The South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) today congratulated Bizhub Highveld Lions all-rounder, Dwaine Pretorius, on winning its Most Valuable Player (MVP) title for his performances over the three domestic competitions in the 2015/16 season. Pretorius finished on a total of 468, 282 points.
The SACA MVP is a cumulative points system that rewards franchise players for every run scored, wicket taken and catch held in the three franchise domestic competitions, and also takes into account the context of the match and in which the performances are achieved. Each of the CSA domestic competitions has a unique weighting for each discipline, dependant on what is considered more important in that format (for example strike rate and economy rate in the T20 format).
Following his remarkable start to the season, Pretorius’ hard work with bat and ball earned the Lion’s all-rounder a total of 641 runs and 60 wickets in all competitions. Despite picking up an injury half way through the season, Pretorius was a strong contender for the top spot throughout, and in the end, he took the overall MVP title, 31.929 points ahead of Sunfoil Dolphins left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj who finished second.
“The SACA MVP is something all of us franchise cricketers strive to win because it combines what you do with bat, ball and in the field in all three competitions. It is recognised by players as a measure of consistency throughout the season. I’m proud to have won this but must also give some credit to my Lions teammates in helping me to do it” said Dwaine Pretorius.
The SACA MVP rankings also focus on performances in each particular competition. Bizhub Highveld Lions paceman, Hardus Viljoen clinched the top spot in the four day Sunfoil Series MVP rankings from team mate Pretorius, doing so in the Lions final match against the Warriors. Viljoen’s performance kept him in the running for the title as he held his position at the top of the ranking for five of the nine Sunfoil Series matches he played. He finished the Sunfoil Series as the top wicket-taker with 47 wickets.
Alviro Petersen was a runaway winner of the Momentum One-Day Cup MVP award after a record-breaking season in which he scored 726 runs, an astonishing 31% of all his teams runs. His remarkable total included five centuries, four in consecutive matches, and was compiled at an equally remarkable strike rate of 100.13 runs per hundred balls. His was the outstanding contribution in the Lions’ successful Momentum One Day Cup campaign.
The Unlimited Titans T20 captain, Albie Morkel, started the RamSlam T20 with a bang and stayed within touching distance of the top spot throughout the tournament. Morkel’s steady flow of runs and wickets, as well as his captaining proficiency, saw him edge out the VKB Knights international star, Andre Russell, by just 0.92 points.
“I’d like to congratulation Dwaine 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.”
“I would also like to congratulate Hardus, Alviro and Albie for leading the way in each of the domestic competitions. There were some pretty impressive individual performances from a number of players this season and I think Heino Kuhn’s 1126 runs in the Sunfoil Series and Alviro Petersen’s five hundreds in the Momentum One Day Cup deserve special mention. Well done also to the entire Titans squad for winning the Sunfoil Series and the RamSlam and to the Lions Squad for taking the Momentum One Day Cup.”