Nominees revealed for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for June 2024
The Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu came out on top against the likes of the Scotland skipper Kathryn Bryce and the world number one ranked white-ball format bowler from England Sophie Ecclestone to clinch the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for May 2024. It is the second instance of her claiming the award after she first achieved it in September 2023.
The ICC has now revealed the nominees for the Women’s Player of the Month for June 2024. The three contenders for the award include the vice-captain of the Indian women’s team Smriti Mandhana, England’s top-order batter Maia Bouchier, and Sri Lanka’s young sensation Vishmi Gunaratne.
ICC Women’s Player of the Month Nominees for June.
Smriti Mandhana (India):
The vice-captain of the Indian women’s cricket team Smriti Mandhana is in the middle of a dream run with the bat at the international level. She has mind-blowing returns (117, 136, 90, and 149) with the bat in the ongoing all-format series against South Africa.
She broke multiple records en route to amassing 343 runs at a strike rate of 103.93 and an exceptional average of 114.33 in three innings. Her tally of runs included a couple of centuries and a half-century in the series. She was the leading run-scorer of the ODI series. She also had a brilliant outing in the one-off Test Match, scoring 149 runs at a strike rate of 92.54. She is clearly the front-runner to claim the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for June 2024.
Maia Bouchier (England):
The 25-year-old top-order batter Maia Bouchier from England, is also having a sensational outing with the bat for her side in the ongoing white-ball series against New Zealand. She has scored 167 runs at a strike rate of 121.01 in her couple of outings in the 1st and the 2nd ODI respectively. Her tally of runs includes one half-century and one century. She notched up her maiden International and ODI ton on 30th June 2024 in the 2nd ODI of the series.
She was also awarded the Player of the Match for her unbeaten match-winning knock (100 off 88 balls) with the bat. She is also one of the prime contenders for this award for June 2024.
Vishmi Gunaratne (Sri Lanka):
The 18-year-old young sensation and the Sri Lankan opening batter Vishmi Gunaratne had a brilliant outing with the bat in the recently concluded white-ball series against the West Indies. She was the leading run-scorer of the three-match ODI series with 134 runs at a strike rate of 83.22 and an impressive average of 44.66 in three innings. Her tally of runs includes one half-century.
In the T20I format, she has scored 61 runs at a strike rate of 98.38 and an average of 20.33 in three innings. The former Sri Lankan Under-19 skipper Vishmi Gunaratne has displayed remarkable consistency in recent times with the bat for Sri Lanka. She is also one of the strong contenders for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for June 2024.