International Cricket Council (ICC) on 7th August 2023 announced the nominees for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for July. Australian duo Ashleigh Gardner and Ellyse Perry have been nominated for the award. No. 1 ranked batter and all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt is the third player to be nominated.
Incidentally, the players nominated for this award are all all-rounders. All these players were part of the recently concluded Women’s Ashes Series. The Aussies retained the series after tying England with a scoreline of 8-8.
🚨 ICC Player of the Month – July 2023 Nominations 👇
Who do you think is most-deserving? #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/O3l6MZflU9
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) August 7, 2023
Nat Sciver-Brunt
Nat Sciver-Brunt was the player of the series in the Ashes ODI series. In the month of July, she played a total of 6 matches (3 ODI’s and 3 T20I’s) amassing a total of 326 runs in that time. She also scored back-to-back centuries. Nat also picked up 5 wickets in those 6 matches. Her exceptional performances in the 50 overs format helped her claim the No 1 ranking both as a batter as well as an all-rounder. With the help of Nat’s knocks, the English side were able to make a comeback in the series, which was looking very unlikely after them losing the only test and the 1st T20I.
Ashleigh Gardner
Ashleigh Gardner, Australia’s premium all-rounder, has undoubtedly been the most consistent player for the Aussies in the last few years. Gardener played a total of 8 matches in the month of July. Primarily batting in the lower middle order, Gardner accumulated a total of 232 runs from 8 matches while also picking 15 wickets in the whole month of August. Gardner also won the Player of the Month award for the month of June. Right from when the award was started, Gardner has won this award a record number of times (2). She has the chance to distance herself from other players in winning this award for the most number of times.
Ellyse Perry
Ellyse Perry, the next nominee is Australia’s arguably one of the best players ever. Perry played a total of 7 matches in the month of July. In this month she scored a total of 368 runs while also claiming 2 wickets in that time. Perry was supposed to play one more match in July, but she got injured while batting against Ireland, forcing her out of the 3rd ODI. Perry’s top score was 91 against Ireland, she missed out on a really well-deserved century. Perry’s 51* off 27 balls in the second T20I went in vain as she didn’t get enough support from the other end to clinch the match.
