Alastair Cook in Greene King Team of the Year after Essex's Bob Willis Trophy win
Friday 2 October 2020 11:44, UK
Simon Harmer has been named captain of the Greene King Team of the Year for 2020 with Alastair Cook also in the XI following Essex's Bob Willis Trophy win, the PCA has announced.
Harmer is also on the shortlist for the NatWest PCA Men's Player of the Year, alongside Craig Overton, one of three Somerset players in the team.
Tom Lammonby, fresh from his century in the Bob Willis Trophy final, is another and is one of two players in the side up for the Vitality PCA Young Player of the Year, Surrey's Will Jacks is the other. The winners of both awards will be revealed during Vitality Blast Finals Day on Saturday.
The third Somerset player in the XI is seamer Josh Davey and in total eight counties are represented in an XI selected using the PCA MVP formula.
Worcestershire opener Jake Libby scored 816 runs across first-class and T20 cricket this summer and joins Cook, the leading run scorer in the Bob Willis Trophy, at the top of the order.
Lammonby slots in at three after scoring three consecutive first-class hundreds, including a career-best of 116 at Lord's, with Nottinghamshire's Ben Duckett at No 4 after making 665 in all competitions this season and helping the Outlaws top the Vitality Blast North Group.
Jacks, a star performer with bat and ball for Surrey in the Blast, is in at five with Glamorgan wicketkeeper Chris Cooke rewarded for five 50-plus scores this summer and coming in at six.
Gloucestershire all-rounder Ryan Higgins has taken a total of 30 wickets and claimed claimed a maiden 10-wicket haul this season and joins Overton, the Bob Willis Trophy MVP, as part of a strong lower middle-order.
Harmer is carded at nine. The off-spinner was the leading wicket-taker in red-ball cricket with 38 as Essex claimed their second first-class trophy in as many years, while the evergreen Darren Stevens is a very handy No 10. The 44-year-old Kent all-rounder took three five-fers in another stellar campaign.
The XI is completed by Davey. The Scotland international took 35 wickets across all formats and averaged a remarkable 13.79 in red-ball cricket.
Greene King Team of the Year 2020: Alastair Cook (Essex), Jake Libby (Worcestershire), Tom Lammonby (Somerset), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Will Jacks (Surrey), Chris Cooke (wk, Glamorgan), Ryan Higgins (Gloucestershire), Craig Overton (Somerset), Simon Harmer (captain, Essex), Darren Stevens (Kent), Josh Davey (Somerset).
