The International Cricket Council (ICC) introduced the ICC Player of the Month award for both men and women cricketers in the year 2021, in order to reward the efforts made by the players on a monthly basis. Since then, ICC nominates 3 players in the men’s as well as in the women’s categories, based on their performances in that particular month.
The winner of the Player of the Month award is decided, based on the voting of fans from across the globe, alongside the Independent Voting Academy members comprising of former cricketers, commentators, journalists, etc. which are formed by the ICC. Nominees for the month of May see:
Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka):
The Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapathuthu is our first player on the nominations list. She finds herself on the list because of her crucial all-round contributions in helping Sri Lanka clinch a rain-affected ODI series by a 1-0 margin. She played a vital knock of 64 taking Sri Lanka to a respectable total.
She also picked up a crucial wicket of Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana denting Bangladesh’s hopes of saving the series. Sri Lanka also went on to win the T20I series against Bangladesh. The Sri Lankan skipper also went on to make impactful contributions with the bat.
ICC Women’s Player of the Month Nominees for May 2023 are here:
Who has your vote? #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/iZUpZlBb55
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) June 6, 2023
Harshitha Madavi (Sri Lanka):
The 24-year-old, left-hand batter from Sri Lanka also known as Harshitha Samarawickrama, is also one of the three nominees and the second Sri Lankan nominee for the award, highlighting the dominance of Sri Lankan stars this month. She had an impressive outing in the series against Bangladesh.
She scored 125 runs in the T20I series including an unbeaten half-century, getting dismissed only once throughout the course of the series. Her unbeaten knock of 45 in the 2nd ODI of the series, played a vital role in helping Sri Lanka clinch the ODI series against Bangladesh.
Thipatcha Putthawong (Thailand):
The Thailand Women’s cricket team created history by winning the third gold medal in the Southeast Asian games by beating Indonesia.
The 19-year-old left-arm spinner from Thailand makes it to the list of nominees for the Player of the Month award for her impressive performances with the ball throughout the tournament picking up 11 wickets in four games, playing a vital role in the remarkable achievement by the Thailand women’s cricket team.
She will be hoping to join her fellow team-mate Naruemol Chaiwai, who became the first Thailand player to receive the ICC Player of the Month award for April 2023.