Since 2004, ICC has been hosting awards annually where they hand out titles of Player of the Year. From this year onwards, ICC will be nominating players for the Player of the Month title. According to the ICC website, it is being launched to recognize and celebrate the game’s top male and female cricketers across formats throughout the year.
A group called the “Independent Voting Academy” (IVA) has been created to select the winner of the honor. This group consists of prominent members of the cricketing world like former players, broadcasters, journalists, and some members of the ICC hall of fame. Along with the members of this group, fans too will have their say. Fans can log on to ICC’s official website and vote for their favorite player. The weightage of the fans’ votes is 10% whereas the IVA will reserve 90% of the share. Winners will be announced every second Monday on ICC’s digital channels.
The nominees for the Women’s Player of the Month are – Pakistan’s Diana Baig, South Africa’s Shabnim Ismail, and Marizanne Kapp. Diana has played three ODIs and two T20Is against South Africa and has led the wicket-taking chart with nine wickets in three ODIs.
Shabnim also played the same number of matches and took seven wickets in the ODIs before taking five wickets in the second T20I. All-rounder Marizanne Kapp played a match less than her counterparts in the category. She played two ODIs and two T20Is against Pakistan where she made 115 runs at a strike rate of 110.57 and took three wickets in the ODI series.
Voting Academy for ICC Player of the Month January 2021:
Afghanistan: Hameed Qayoomi and Javed Hamim
Australia: Adam Collins and Lisa Sthalekar
Bangladesh: Tarek Mahmoud and Mohammad Isam
England: Kalika Mehta and Claire Taylor
Ireland: Ian Callender and Isobel Joyce
India: Mona Parthsarathi and VVS Laxman
New Zealand: Mark Geenty and John Wright
Pakistan: Sohail Imran and Ramiz Raja
South Africa: Firdose Moonda and Jonty Rhodes
Sri Lanka: Champika Fernando and Russel Arnold
West Indies: Ian Bishop and Andy Roberts
Zimbabwe: Tristan Holme and Mpumelelo Mbangwa
Others: AKS Satish and Preston Mommsen
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