Butcher catapults up MVP list

Mark Butcher's 205 boosted Surrey but they still await their first championship win

Mark Butcher is this week’s big riser in the PCA MVP stakes after hitting the first double hundred of the LV County Championship Division One season.

The Surrey captain is up to sixth spot after striking 205 from 289 balls in the championship draw with Yorkshire at the Brit Oval, sandwiched between scores of 139 and 66 not out in the Brown Caps’ Friends Provident Trophy matches with Kent Spitfires and Essex Eagles.

Though all of Surrey’s championship matches have ended in draws thus far, that has been no fault of Butcher, who has made enterprising declarations a feature of his captaincy throughout the season.

Kent’s Martin van Jaarsveld is still PCA MVP, with three Friends Provident Trophy centuries, including 113 in a stand of 216 with Darren Stevens against Surrey last week.

The South African also struck 95 in a losing cause against Somerset in the championship.

Yorkshire’s Tim Bresnan highlighted his all-round prowess with a fine 84 against Surrey, as he climbs to second place behind van Jaarsveld.

Yasir Arafat, is third after a quiet week, one spot ahead of the early MVP pacesetter Ravi Bopara.

The Essex all-rounder is rewarded for his consistent performances in championship and Friends Provident Trophy cricket.

Darren Pattinson, seventh, has been a revelation since joining Notts © Getty Images

Another Kent man, Ryan McLaren, is sixth, while Darren Pattinson is up to seventh overall, and top of the LV County Championship MVP rankings, despite being omitted by Nottinghamshire for two championship matches.

The Australian-reared fast bowler has 20 wickets in four-day cricket.

Usman Afzaal bagged a duck in Surrey’s first innings against Yorkshire, but bounced back with 105 to guide his new county to safety.

Afzaal's handy slow left-armers are gaining more of an airing than at his previous counties, helping him to eighth overall this week.

Peter Trego of Somerset is up to ninth after helping his county sneak a 20-run win over Kent in the championship.

The all-rounder scored 78 runs in the match and took 4-52 in the first innings.

HD Ackerman of Leicestershire rounds out the top ten, while the big loser is Nicky Boje.

Twenty four runs and three wickets in a rain-hit week for Northamptonshire means the South African slips down to eleventh, though he still has the honour of scoring the season's first double hundred, 226 not out against Warwickshire.