The International Cricket Council (ICC), this week, revealed the list of nominees for the ICC Women’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year, Women’s T20I Player of the Year, and Women’s ODI Player of the Year. It’s now time to unwrap the list of nominees for the ultimate award of the year, the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year.
Nominees for the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year 2023:
Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka):
The 33-year-old all-rounder and Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu had a sensational year with the bat in the T20I (470 runs) as well as the ODI format (415 runs) for Sri Lanka. She is the leading run-scorer for her side with 470 runs to her name in 16 innings in T20Is. She had an impressive outing in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa in February 2023, when she scored 118 runs in 4 innings. She also had a sensational outing in an ODI series against New Zealand when she smashed 248 runs at a strike rate of 151.21 in 3 innings.
Apart from her exploits with the bat, she has also picked up 8 wickets with the ball in 12 innings in T20Is. She also led Sri Lanka to a silver medal in the 19th edition of the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. She is one of the front-runners for the Cricketer of the Year 2023 award for her exceptional all-round performances for Sri Lanka throughout the year 2023.
Beth Mooney (Australia):
The 29-year-old left-hand batter from Australia was the leading run-scorer for Australia in the T20I format in 2023. She scored 410 runs at a strike rate of 120.58 and an impressive average of 41 in 13 innings. Her tally of runs includes 4 half-centuries. Her best performance (74* off 53 balls) with the bat for Australia in the T20I format came in the ICC Women’s T20I World Cup against the hosts, South Africa in the final.
She is also the 5th highest run-scorer with 442 runs with the bat at an impressive average of 55.25 in 12 innings in the ODI format in 2023 and the 3rd highest run-scorer for Australia. Her best performance with the bat came against Pakistan when she scored 133 runs at a strike rate of 126.66 against Pakistan in the 3rd ODI.
Nominees for Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy for the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year 2023 revealed #CricketTwitter #ICCAwards pic.twitter.com/HxtuOoIEVV
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Nat Sciver-Brunt (England):
The 31-year-old star all-rounder from England had an impressive year with the bat for her side. She was also the leading run-scorer for England in the ODI (393 runs in 5 innings) as well as in the T20I format (364 runs in 10 innings). She has a humongous average of 131 in 5 innings in the ODI format an impressive average of 45.50 and a strike rate of 135.82. She had a standout series in the Women’s Ashes when she scored 271 runs in the ODI series. She had an outstanding campaign in the ICC Women’s T20I World Cup in South Africa as she scored 216 runs at an impressive strike rate of 141.17 in 5 innings.
Apart from her exploits with the bat, she has also picked up 3 wickets with the ball in three innings in the ODI format. She picked up 5 wickets with the ball in 9 innings.
Ashleigh Gardner (Australia):
The 26-year-old spin-bowling all-rounder from Australia had a great year with the ball in the ODI format for Australia. She was the leading wicket-taker with the ball in the ODI format with 24 wickets to her name at a strike rate of 23.3 and an average of 16.37 in 12 innings. She had an impressive outing in the Women’s Ashes in June 2023 as she picked up 9 wickets at a strike rate of 20 and an average of 15.
She was the 2nd highest wicket-taker for Australia with 17 wickets to her name at a strike rate of 16.1 and an average of 19.70 in 14 innings. Her best performance with the ball came in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa against New Zealand on 11th February 2023, when she returned with exceptional match figures (5/12) in her spell.