Brilliant Bopara leads the way

Ravi Bopara has scored 499 runs in four competitive innings

Ravi Bopara continues to set the pace at the top of the PCA MVP after another sensational week.

The all-rounder struck a fine 137 in Essex’s LV County Championship defeat by Derbyshire, and 59 to help secure victory over Sussex in the Friends Provident Trophy on Sunday.

That took his tally for the season to 499 in four innings in all competitions, and he cemented his position as the leading performer this season with two wickets and two catches.

Though Kent have yet to win a game this season, they boast three players in the top five of the PCA MVP.

Azhar Mahmood sits second - 42 points behind Bopara - with Martin van Jaarsveld third and Yasir Arafat fifth.

Azhar returned figures of 5-30 in the second innings of the drawn championship encounter with Sussex, while van Jaarsveld followed up a century in the opening FP Trophy game with 53 against Middlesex.

Arafat has taken 11 wickets in all forms of cricket, as well as contributing 91 runs, including 46 batting at number 11 at Hove.

Matt Prior, who has passed 50 each time he has batted this season and is responsible for more than a quarter of Sussex’s runs, occupies fourth spot.