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.
ICC Women’s Player of the Month Nominees for August 2023:
Ainna Hamizah Hashim (Malaysia):
The 23-year-old all-rounder Ainna Hamiza Hashim had an impressive outing, especially in the last month. She played a crucial role in helping Malaysia get three victories under their belt. She scored 91 runs with the bat in the Women’s T20I Quadrangular Series. Her best performance with the bat came against Kuwait in the third-place play-off when she scored an unbeaten 46 runs at a strike rate of 86.79.
She picked up four wickets with the ball. In the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Asia Region Qualifier, 2023, she scored 28 runs and also picked up four wickets with the ball. Her best performance with the ball (2/14) came against Nepal. She is the first player from Malaysia to be nominated for the ICC Player of the Month award for this month.
🚨 ICC Player of the Month – August 2023 Nominations 👇
Who's got your vote?#CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/Ow497PPfxb
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) September 8, 2023
Arlene Kelly (Ireland):
Ireland recently toured the Netherlands for a three-match T20I series. She is the second player in the nominees list for the Player of the Month. She picked up 10 wickets in three innings. Her best performance with the ball came on 14th August when she picked up five wickets giving away just 12 runs in her spell. She was awarded the Player of the Match for her brilliant spell. She had an exceptional average of 4.30 and an impressive strike rate of 6.6.
Iris Zwilling (Netherlands):
The 22-year-old all-rounder from the Netherlands is the third player to be nominated for the Player of the Month for August 2023. She played a crucial role in helping the Netherlands win the T20I series against Jersey. She scored 107 runs with an average of over 35 and an impressive strike rate of 102.88. Her best performance with the bat came in the first T20I when she scored 52 runs at a strike rate of 92.85. She also picked up some crucial wickets with the ball. She is currently involved in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Europe Region Qualifier. So far, she has scored 38 runs and picked up 3 wickets with the ball.