Essex bowler Jamie Porter wins PCA Player of the Month Award
Thursday 7 September 2017 13:30, UK
Essex fast bowler Jamie Porter has capped a memorable month by being voted the PCA Player of the Month for August.
Porter was shortlisted for the award along with Sussex batsman Chris Nash and the Nottinghamshire pair of Samit Patel and Jake Ball, the four players with most points in the PCA Most Valuable Player Rankings during August.
But Porter came out top in a fans' vote on the PCA and Sky Sports digital platforms, polling 44 per cent of the votes cast to become the fifth winner of the new monthly awards.
Porter is the second Essex player to be voted a PCA Player of the Month following Simon Harmer, the former South Africa off-spinner, who topped the poll in June. The other monthly winners were: April - Liam Norwell (Gloucestershire), May - Kumar Sangakkara (Surrey), July - Wayne Madsen (Derbyshire).
Porter took 19 Specsavers County Championship wickets in two matches in August, taking seven in the match against Yorkshire and a career-best 12-95 in last week's victory over Somerset at Chelmsford.
He took 5-40 in the first innings and followed up with 7-55, another career-best, in the second to finish with a match haul of 64 PCA MVP points.
As well as keeping Essex in the hunt for the championship, Porter also took four for 20, his best T20 figures, in the NatWest T20 Blast victory over Gloucestershire at Bristol.
"It's an award I've wanted to win since it was introduced at the start of the season and it caps off a great month for me personally," Porter said.
"It's also been a great season for the club so far and now we have one eye on the prize of the County Championship and everyone is working hard to see it through."
Porter, who succeeded Jaik Mickleburgh as Essex's PCA representative earlier this year, is currently fifth in the championship rankings with 257 points and 18th in the overall PCA MVP, which covers rankings points earned in all formats.
The PCA MVP Rankings system, which was introduced in 2007, identifies the match-winners and key influencers of matches throughout the domestic season.
The formula gives full credit to those players whose performances improve their team's chances of winning. Points are accrued for all runs scored and wickets taken, these are then adjusted within the context of the match to take into account strike rates and economy rates.
The formula also takes into account conditions, quality of opposition, captaincy and strike-rates as well as runs scored and wickets taken with the player who tops the overall PCA MVP Rankings at the end of the season receiving a £10,000 prize and a trophy.
