Bird & Neser share inaugural Captains' MVP Award

21 March, 2017

Tasmania's Jackson Bird and Queensland's Michael Neser have tied in winning the inaugural Sheffield Shield Captains' MVP Award.

Both players polled 37 votes across the 2017-18 Shield season. Each captain voted 5,4,3,2,1 after each Shield game on the players they deemed most valuable in that match.

Queensland and Tasmania players featured heavily on the MVP leaderboard, with two players from each state in the top five, as both teams prepare to square off in this week's Sheffield Shield Final.

Bird claimed 37 wickets at an average of 20.22, polling in five of the seven games he played. His form was also rewarded with a call up to the Australian team, playing in the Boxing Day test against England.

Neser continued his good form from the last few seasons, taking 37 wickets from nine games and averaging 19.70. The swing-bowler and handy lower order batsman was also a part of the Adelaide Strikers BBL07 winning campaign.

Victoria's Chris Tremain and Tasmania's Tom Rogers followed four votes adrift of first place with 33 votes apiece.

Tremain took a competition-high 51 wickets at 21.07 while Rogers impressed with 35 wickets at 17.31.

Queensland batsman Matthew Renshaw rounded out the top five. The 21-year-old accumulated all of his votes after Christmas, tallying 686 runs over the season with three centuries.

ACA General Manager Cricket Operations Brendan Drew congratulated both Bird and Neser.

"The Sheffield Shield competition is the strongest first class competition in the world. Jackson and Michael should be really proud to be recognised as the two most valuable players in this competition by the captains from around the country."

"To win games of first-class cricket, teams need to be able to take 20 wickets, Jackson and Michael have been consistent wicket takers throughout the season."

Bird, Neser, Rogers and Renshaw are all in line to play in this week's Sheffield Shield Final commencing on Friday in Brisbane.

LeaderboardVotes
Bird37
Neser37
Rogers33
Tremain33
Renshaw30
Labuschagne27
Winter26
Doran26
Burns25
Feldman23


The Award

  • Each captain voted 5,4,3,2,1 after each Shield game on the players they deemed most valuable in that match.
  • Captains were ineligible to vote for themselves, or the opposition Captain.
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Photos courtesy of Getty Images
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