Sophie Ecclestone outdid Indian all-rounder Sneh Rana and Indian opener Shafali Verma to win the ICC Player of the Month award for the month of June. Ecclestone now is the second English woman to win the award after Tammy Beaumont, who was awarded with the same recognition in February 2021.
Ecclestone truly deserved the award for her performance during the India tour of England Test and ODI matches. She was the highest wicket-taker in the one-off Test at the Bristol County Ground. She took a mammoth of eight wickets for 206 runs with an average of 25.75. She was one of the main reasons that England could enforce a follow on to India.
Total 14 Wickets in the month of June 2021 and Sophie Ecclestone is ICC’s Player of the Month.
Her bowling performance in June 🏴
4/88 and 4/118 vs 🇮🇳 (1st Test)
3/40 vs 🇮🇳 (1st ODI)
3/33 vs 🇮🇳 (2nd ODI)Congratulations @Sophecc19 #ENGvIND #ENGWvINDW pic.twitter.com/ifljzs3K2f
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) July 12, 2021
In the 2 ODIs which were played in the month of June, she was nothing but impressive with the white ball too. She took three wickets each in both matches and contributed towards two easy wins for the team.
“It’s really nice to win this award. It’s after a period in which we’ve played all three formats so it feels good to be recognized for my performances in the Test and the white-ball series,” Ecclestone said in an ICC release.
“We’ve been happy as a team how we’ve performed across this series. We would have liked to have won the Test match but hopefully, we can clinch the multi-format series. It’s all crucial preparation for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand when we’ll be defending the title, we won in 2017, and we feel in a decent place as a team,” she added.
The other two nominees were a part of the Indian camp. All-rounder Sneh Rana, who made her Test debut against England on June 18 in Bristol, made a much-needed 144-run partnership with Taniya Bhatia in the second inning after getting a follow on. The Indian line-up again collapsed in the second inning, but the efforts of Rana and Bhatia saved the day for India and helped India draw the match.
The third nominee was India’s teen sensation, Shafali Verma. She also made her Test debut against England on June 18 and created several records. She made a half-century in the second inning, a score of 63 runs in just 83 balls. She also became the first Indian women cricketer to hit a six on a Test debut.
