Dawson Qualifies for PCA North v South Series in UAE 

Hampshire’s Liam Dawson, England Lions batsman Ben Duckett and the Somerset pair of Lewis Gregory and Tim Groenewald are among the eight players who will be invited to play in the new North v South series in the United Arab Emirates next March.

They along with Northamptonshire slow left-armer Graeme White and Kent all-rounder Matt Coles earned selection for the three-match North v South series as the top four England-qualified players in each region in this season’s Professional Cricketers’ Association Most Valuable Player Rankings.

Hampshire all-rounder Dawson, who made his T20 International debut against Sri Lanka at the The Ageas Bowl earlier this season, topped the Royal London One Day Cup PCA MVP Rankings with 128 points, two ahead of White. Dawson and White were the leading spinners in each group.

Coles finished third on 122 points, nine ahead of Glamorgan’s South African all-rounder Colin Ingram who was ineligible for selection for the North v South series.

All-rounder Gregory took fifth place, closely followed by Nottinghamshire left-arm seamer Gurney, Yorkshire all-rounder Bresnan and Duckett with seamer Groenewald, who finished 17^th in the rankings table, taking the fourth and final place from the South.

The PCA and the England and Wales Cricket Board’s National Cricket Performance Centre at Loughborough have worked closely to enhance the PCA MVP formula which was first introduced in 2007.

The PCA MVP Rankings system identifies the match-winners and key influencers of matches by using a formula that measures each player’s total contribution by taking into account conditions, quality of opposition, captaincy, strike rates as well as runs scored and wickets taken.

The remaining players in the North v South series will be chosen by the England selectors who will be thinking about the strategic needs of the England team in the build-up to the 2019 World Cup.