County Players Urged to Win England Place in North v South Tournament

English players will have the chance to press their claims for places in the 2019 ICC World Cup in an innovative North v South three match series which will be played in UAE next March using the Professional Cricketers’ Association’s Most Valuable Player Rankings to help select the teams.

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

The top four England-qualified players from each region in this season’s Royal London One Day Cup PCA MVP Rankings plus the leading spinner will be selected to play in the North v South matches with the remaining players chosen by the England selectors who will be thinking about the strategic needs of the England team in the build-up to the next World Cup.

Andrew Strauss, the ECB’s Managing Director of England Cricket, is the driving force behind the North v South fixture and the use of the enhanced PCA MVP Rankings in the selection process.

The PCA MVP Rankings 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.

In recent years high-achieving MVP performers including Moeen Ali, David Willey, Luke Wright, James Vince, Jason Roy, Samit Patel and Ravi Bopara have gone on to play for England.

Further details, including ticketing and coaches, about the North v South series in Abu Dhabi next March will be announced over the summer.