JOHANNESBURG – The South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) has congratulated Warriors all-rounder, Colin Ackermann, on winning the SACA Most Valuable Player (MVP) title in franchise cricket, for his performances in the three domestic competitions in the 2016/17 season.
The SACA MVP domestic rankings list the top performing franchise players, who compete in SA’s domestic competitions.
Players earn points, based on an internationally recognised formula which is used by several players’ associations around the world, for batting, bowling, fielding and for contribution to matches won by their team.
Points are weighted across the three different formats to ensure that critical performances in each match earn a player the appropriate number of points.
The overall SACA MVP Rankings are an indicator of consistency of performance throughout the season.
The three premier competitions taken into account were the Sunfoil Series (four days), Momentum One-Day Cup (50 overs) and CSA T20 Challenge (20 overs).
Following a very good start to the season, Ackermann’s consistency with both bat and ball earned the Warriors all-rounder a total of 1431 runs and 16 wickets in all competitions.
Ackermann took the overall SACA MVP title, ahead of Knights paceman Marchant de Lange, who finished second, with Robbie Frylinck from the Dolphins rounding out the top three.
“The SACA MVP is something all of us franchise cricketers strive to win because it measures every aspect of the game across the three domestic competitions,"Ackermann said.
"It is recognised by players as a measure of consistency throughout the season. I’m proud to have won this award but must also give some credit to my Warriors teammates in helping me to do it”.
The SACA MVP rankings also focus on performances in each particular competition. Knights opening bowler Duanne Olivier, clinched the top spot in the four-day Sunfoil Series rankings, finishing with 52 wickets in 8 matches.
Simon Harmer and Marchant de Lange finished in second and third respectively on the Sunfoil rankings.
Jon-Jon Smuts was a runaway winner of the Momentum One-Day Cup rankings. The all-rounder scored 581 runs at an average of 52.81, and picked up 14 wickets in the competition.
Multiply Titans openers Aiden Markram and Henry Davids both enjoyed very successful campaigns and ended in 2nd and 3rd place on the Momentum rankings respectively.
Smuts also finished first, ahead of Ackermann in second and Hardus Viljoen in third, in the CSA T20 Challenge rankings. Smuts finished as the leading run-scorer in the competition, scoring 371 runs in 11 matches.
“I’d like to congratulate Colin on winning the overall SACA MVP,” said SACA chief executive, Tony Irish. “To achieve the top spot a player has to perform for his franchise pretty much week in and week out throughout the season and he has done exactly that.
“I would also like to congratulate Jon-Jon and Duanne for leading the way in each of the domestic competitions. There were some pretty impressive individual performances from a number of players this season.
"Henry Davids’ 673 runs in 8 matches in the Momentum One-Day Cup and Duanne Olivier’s 52 wickets in 8 matches in the Sunfoil Series deserve special mention. Well done also to the entire Titans squad for winning the Momentum One-Day Cup and the CSA T20 Challenge and to the Knights squad for taking the Sunfoil Series.”