LONDON: Derbyshire opening batter Shan Masood, who scored back-to-back double-centuries in April, has been voted the PCA’s Player of the Month.
The left-hander, who has represented Pakistan 30 times, finished top of the month’s PCA Most Valuable Player Rankings, registering 129.34 points.
The public was equally impressed with Masood’s 713 runs, as he achieved 46% of the vote to secure the award. Designed by PCA partner Mappin & Webb, the elegant trophy was presented to him by the PCA’s Vice Chair and Derbyshire teammate, Anuj Dal. Masood pipped Kent’s Ben Compton, Hampshire all-rounder Keith Barker and Yorkshire’s Harry Brook who received 30%, 14%, and 10% of the vote respectively with the four player shortlist selected from the MVP Rankings.
It is Masood’s first time playing in the LV= Insurance County Championship and he believes the resources in county cricket provide everything he needs to improve. Masood is taking inspiration from Marnus Labuschagne’s first spell at Glamorgan and seeing how that benefited him on the international stage. Which is something Masood hopes to replicate with Pakistan.
“Looking at his career path. Marnus came to Glamorgan, scored about 1,200 runs and then never looked back after getting into that Australian side,” said Masood.
“He is a prime example, and these are the things you look for. I saw significant improvements in his batting after his spell here, and there is no surprise that he is world number one right now. I talked to him a lot when he was in Pakistan, and I spoke to him a lot during the match we played against each other recently.
“The county set-up provides everything I need to take my game forward, so it is up to me to make use of the incredible resources.”
In addition to his back-to-back double hundreds, Masood has scored three half-centuries, giving him an average of 119.
