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Matthew Potts tops the leaderboard in the race to be crowned the Cricket Media Club's County Championship Player of the Year. This season the prestigious award, which was won by Nottinghamshire skipper Haseeb Hameed last year, is being decided with the help of a voting process after each match. The best three players in each Rothesay County Championship match are awarded votes on a 3-2-1 basis, judged by members of the ECB Reporters Network. All votes published on the ECB website after each round. Durham seamer Potts is the frontrunner on the leaderboard with 12 votes, while Somerset all-rounder Craig Overton is his closest rival two votes behind. The top ten players qualify to go to a vote of the Cricket Media Club's members to decide who will be presented with the trophy at the Club's end-of-season awards. As we head into the final six rounds of the season, we take a look at the players who are jostling to be eligible to win the award and some of the performances that have elevated them up the leaderboard. Cricket Media Club's County Championship Player of the Year contenders Matthew Potts (Durham) The England seamer has been ultra consistent earning votes in five of his seven matches to spearhead Durham’s Division Two title charge. He is the equal-leading wicket-taker in the division with 41, alongside team-mate Ben Raine, and has chipped in with 209 runs at 34.89. He’s polled votes in each of Durham’s past three games, including a 10-wicket haul in the win over Derbyshire in Round 8. Craig Overton (Somerset) The 32-year-old is having a career season as he looks to help Somerset to a historic first County Championship title. A century and four wickets earned him three votes in the Round 2 win over Essex before polling seven votes in his past three games. A second player-of-the-match performance came in the Round 7 innings win over Sussex when he struck 111 and then claimed five wickets. Overton sits third in the Division One wicket-taker’s list with 33 and has hit three centuries. Leus du Plooy (Middlesex) The second-leading run-scorer in Division Two with 728 at an average of 56, the Middlesex captain has twice earned the maximum of three votes this season. He set up the Seaxes’ opening-round innings win over Gloucestershire with a superb 182, before hitting 85 and an unbeaten 101 in the important Round 8 win at New Road to boost promotion hopes. Matt Milnes (Kent) Kent’s rise up the table, with four wins in their past five, has coincided with Milnes’ good form following his return to the club. Milnes kickstarted that run with a six-wicket haul in the fourth innings to bowl Kent to victory over Derbyshire in early May. He was again the match-winner last time out with five fourth-innings wickets against Middlesex to ensure Kent sit second ahead of the August-September run-in. Ben Raine (Durham) Raine earned back-to-back three-vote matches at the start of May when Durham drew away to Middlesex and claimed a nine-wicket win at Worcestershire. He took five-wicket hauls in the first innings of each of those matches on his way to sitting top of the wicket-taker list in Division Two alongside his new-ball partner Potts. Ben Aitchison (Derbyshire) He was named Player of Round 7 after hitting a maiden first-class century, after coming in as a nightwatcher, and claiming career-best match figures of 8-114 in his side’s win against Middlesex at Lord’s. He then claimed maximum votes last time out, taking 5-49 against former club Lancashire, after hitting 75 from number nine, in a nine-wicket win. Ethan Bamber (Warwickshire) The Warwickshire seamer is the second-leading wicket taker in Division One, with 37, and shot up the leaderboard with back-to-back three-vote hauls in Round 6 and 7. After claiming the prized wicket of Harry Brook, his four fourth-innings wickets helped the Bears to a 377-run win over Yorkshire, before the next week taking eight wickets in a draw with Glamorgan. James Rew (Somerset) The 22-year-old Somerset left-hander was in sparkling form to start the summer, earning all his seven votes in the first three rounds. He received three votes in the opening draw with champions Nottinghamshire after following a first-inning 64 with a composed 122 – his 12th first-class ton. Kyle Abbott (Hampshire) Hampshire’s two wins this season have both arrived when their veteran seamer has been the best player on the field. Abbott took match figures of 10-70 when Hampshire won at Yorkshire in Round 2, and he led them to victory against south-coast rivals Sussex last time out with match figures of 9-55. That earned the former South Africa international the Player of the Round honour. Tom Abell (Somerset) Abell has struck three centuries this season, highlighted by a match-winning knock at Hampshire, to steer his side to a victory target of 287 and earn him Player of the Round. The 32-year-old is the third-leading runscorer in Division One with 696 at an average of 77.3, and is back to fitness after a hand injury suffered in the Vitality Blast saw him miss the previous two mid-summer Rothesay County Championship rounds. Matthew Waite (Worcestershire) After claiming a vote in the opening round, Waite has made his move up the leaderboard with two player-of-the-match performances in the past three rounds. The all-rounder hit 77 and claimed a couple of wickets in the draw with Lancashire. Last time out his fifth half-century of the summer was paired with three wickets in a win over Gloucestershire to end a four-game winless run and keep the Pears in the promotion picture. Leaderboard 12 – Matthew Potts (Durham). 10- Craig Overton (Somerset). 8 – Leus du Plooy (Middlesex), Matt Milnes (Kent), Ben Raine (Durham). 7 – Kyle Abbott (Hampshire), Tom Abell (Somerset), Ben Aitchison (Derbyshire), Ethan Bamber (Warwickshire), James Rew (Somerset), Matthew Waite (Worcestershire). 6 – Mason Crane (Glamorgan), Matt Critchley (Essex), Emilio Gay (Durham), Jake Lehmann (Hampshire), Thomas Rew (Somerset). 5 – Ed Barnard (Warwickshire), David Bedingham (Durham), Kiran Carlson (Glamorgan), Sam Cook (Essex), Ryan Higgins (Middlesex), Dan Lawrence (Surrey), Tawanda Muyeye (Kent), Tom Norton (Glamorgan), James Sales (Northamptonshire), Jamie Smith (Surrey). Player of the Round re-cap Round 1: Matt Critchley (Essex): Critchley struck a first-innings 173 before grabbing remarkable figures of 5-9 to wrap up an innings victory over Hampshire at Utilita Bowl. Round 2: Ben McKinney (Durham): The tall opener hit a career-best first-class score of 244 from 272 balls to set up Durham’s 225-run victory over Gloucestershire at Bristol. Round 3: Tom Abell (Somerset): Tom Abell hit the winning runs and reached his century as Somerset chased down 287 to beat Hampshire and go 15 points clear at the top of Division One. Round 4: Emilio Gay (Durham): Hit his second Championship century of the season and joined David Bedingham in a record-breaking 290-run partnership to chase down a final-day target of 336 against Lancashire. Round 5: Kiran Carlson (Glamorgan): His maiden first-class double-ton helped Glamorgan to a first Division One win in 21 years as they defeated Hampshire. Round 6: Tom Norton (Glamorgan): The 18-year-old became the youngest player ever to take a County Championship hat-trick – and the first on debut for 120 years - as Glamorgan claimed an historic first-ever Division One home win. Round 7: Ben Aitchison (Derbyshire): Hit a maiden first-class hundred, after coming in as a nightwatcher, and returned career-best match figures of 8-114 in his side’s win against Middlesex at Lord’s. Round 8: James Coles (Sussex): Scored 224 not out from 226 balls and then took 3-34 with his left-arm to help Sussex to an innings win over Glamorgan. Round 9: Kyle Abbott (Hampshire): The former South Africa international’s spectacular nine-wicket match haul saw relegation-threatened Hampshire upset title challengers Sussex by 118 runs at Hove.