Harris storms to top of MVP

James Harris moved to the top of the MVP Rankings after a sensational career-best 9-34 against Durham in their LV= County Championship match at Lord’s.

Harris, who had taken 5-83 and 3-64 against Somerset in his previous outing at Taunton as well as 4-69 in Durham’s first innings, removed openers Keaton Jennings and Mark Stoneman on the third evening as the visitors set about chasing 259 for victory.

No-one could have anticipated what was to happen on the final morning as Durham resumed their run-chase at 24 for two with all results still possible.

Harris, operating from the Nursery Ground End and into a gale-force wind, blew Durham away inside 90 minutes. Harris’ figures were the second best for Middlesex since the war and the best at Lord’s since Gubby Allen claimed a 10-wicket haul in 1929.

He has now taken 26 wickets from three matches and is showing why he was courted by 11 counties at the end of the 2012 season.

He finished 247th in the LV=CC MVP in 2012, 144th in 2013 after his move to Middlesex and 247th last summer when he was loaned back to Glamorgan after taking just 12 wickets in seven matches.

His best finish to a LV=CC MVP campaign was in 2010 when he came 15th after scoring 257 runs and taking 63 wickets. He is on course for much better than that in 2015.

Harris wasn’t the only bowler to impress at Lord’s.

Chris Rushworth took 5-38 to bowl Middlesex out for 89 in the third innings of the game, his sixth five-wicket haul in five games.

Rushworth famously took his own nine-wicket haul in Durham’s penultimate match of last year (9-52 versus Northants), which he followed with 6-43 in the second innings as he claimed 15 wickets in one day.

He finished the season with 6-100 against Warwickshire. He began this term with 6-92 in Somerset’s second innings at Taunton and then 5-81 in Sussex’s second knock at the Emirates Durham ICG last week.

Rushworth chipped in with 40 as nightwatchman at Lord’s in Durham’s first innings, six runs short of his career best.

He has scored 67 runs and taken 21 wickets and is 12 points behind Harris in second.

Last week’s one and two, Ajmal Shahzad and Alex Hales, were without games this week and have moved down to three and four and Middlesex captain Adam Voges drops a place to five after a quiet game by his high standards at Lord’s.

The new entry into the top-10 is Charlie Morris, who returned career-best match figures of 9-109 to bowl Worcestershire to their first win of the season over Somerset at New Road.

The 22-year-old fast bowler took 5-71 – the second five-wicket haul of his career – and 4-38 to skittle Somerset for just 90 in their second innings.

Morris took 52 wickets last year to help Worcestershire gain promotion and with 14 already in this campaign, looks like one to watch.

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