Monday 4 June 2018 15:44, UK
Keaton Jennings has topped off a superb month by being named the Professional Cricketers' Association Player of the Month for May.
The Lancashire opener hit a string of centuries to earn an England recall for the second Test against Pakistan and has now being rewarded with the accolade which was voted for by fans on the PCA and Sky Sports online platforms.
Jennings received 47 per cent of the vote and beat off competition from Sussex all-rounder Ollie Robinson and Kent pair Matt Henry and Joe Denly. The shortlist was produced via the PCA Most Valuable Player Rankings for the month of May with all four producing outstanding months.
The MVP formula was designed by the players to identify the match-winners and key influencers of matches throughout the domestic and international season. The Rankings provides a more rigorous analysis of player performances than traditional batting and bowling averages. To view, the overall Most Valuable Player Rankings click here.
Jennings is a deserved winner of the accolade with the batsman scoring 129.98 MVP points throughout the month which started off with 109 against Somerset in the Specsavers County Championship, followed by another hundred in Lancashire's first win of the season against Nottinghamshire.
The 25-year-old then carried on his form in the Royal London One-Day Cup - 136 runs and two wickets against Nottinghamshire and then consecutive fifties against Northants and Durham - to earn an international recall. He scored 29 runs in a 53 run opening partnership with Alastair Cook to help England defeat Pakistan to level the series.
Speaking after his international comeback, May's PCA Player of the Month explained he is reaping the rewards after a winter of hard work.
"To be voted by people who love the game and essentially continue to move the game forward is huge," said Jennings. "Thank you to everyone who voted for me, it feels really special and hopefully I can continue to perform for Lancashire over the next couple of months.
"I put in a lot of good work in the winter with Graham Thorpe, Andy Flower, Mark Ramprakash and my Dad so to put in a couple of match-changing performances was pleasing. Especially moving to a new club, you want to make an immediate impact with that group and so to make an impact in May was lovely.
"You try and look at the parts of your game that are very good and you try and change it slightly without losing the essence of how you play because that style has already got you to a certain point already.
"Then you try to manage the media, scrutiny, the pressure as much as you can. It's a privileged position to be under that pressure and to handle it which is the fun part about it."
With two months until the next Test Match, Jennings returns to domestic cricket for Lancashire for a mixture of red and white ball cricket to prepare for the India series later this summer.
However, the former Durham man's second coming to international cricket has not seen any change in mentality or hunger as he aims to continue his form in county cricket.
"I think if you walk into Test cricket not hungry then you are in the wrong space, I've never been a guy to take things for granted or have a lack of hunger or desire," added Jennings. "When you come back for a second or third time you have a new view with different feelings but I am definitely not hungrier. Regardless of what team I play for or what level, I want to perform and I want to win.
"It's a massive achievement to play for your country, I didn't expect to be recalled this early and now the onus is on me to score runs and I suppose that's where the pressure lies.
"I need to go away and continually score runs. When you look at a guy like Cooky, that's what he does.
"There's a huge gap between Test Matches now so it's back to making match-winning performances for Lancashire, that is my goal. There is nothing guaranteed and I have to perform my best for Lancs."
Jennings' award comes after his team-mate Tom Bailey won the April Player of the Month after a blistering start to the season in the four-day format.
"I was saying to Jimmy [Anderson] yesterday when I found out I had won that hopefully we can have somebody up for PCA Player of the Month every month. If we can keep the award in Lancashire it would be awesome."
