ICC Women’s Player of the Month nominees for June revealed
A prolific England performer for more than a decade now, Tammy Beaumont is no stranger to ICC recognitions. She was the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year in 2021, and also won the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for February 2021.
Having started out as a keeper-batter, Beaumont gave up the gloves to focus on her batting and her solid presence at the crease makes her a mainstay of the England Test line-up.
Prior to the all important Ashes clash, Beaumont warmed up with a double ton against Australia A in the practice game at Derby. She carried this form and intent into the one-off Test. Her 208 in the first innings was a record knock, being the first ever double hundred for an England Women’s cricketer. The previous England record for the highest score was held by Betty Snowball with 189, which came in 1935.
This was also the eighth double hundred in Women’s Tests.
Her knock, which came off 331 balls, included 27 fours and brought England almost at par with Australia in the first innings. She followed this with a compact 22 in the second innings.
Ashleigh Gardner | Australia's star all-rounder | 100% Cricket
Ashleigh Gardner has been the rising star of Australia cricket over the last few years, and June 2023 was only an illustration of her calibre. Gardner has already won the ICC Women’s Player of the Month awards for December 2022 and February 2023.
Gardner was unmatched in the one-off encounter at Nottingham. The all-rounder garnered 40 crucial runs at No.7 to help Australia post a strong total of 473. She then led the Australia charge in the bowling department, ensuring a 10-run lead despite Beaumont's brilliant double hundred. Among her wickets were Beaumont, Heather Knight, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Sophia Dunkley.
However, she reserved her best for last, as the underrated off-spinner came to her own in the final innings of the match. Her 8/66 almost single-handedly dismantled England's pursuit of 268. She started it all with Beaumont's wicket in the 11th over to break a solid opening stand of 55, and was there right until the end, taking Danni Wyatt's scalp to win the Test. Her match haul were the second best figures in women's Ashes history.
West Indies skipper Hayley Mathews continues to remain the mainstay of West Indies' batting line-up. At merely 25, she's already the third highest run-getter for West Indies in ODIs and T20Is respectively. She sits at the same spot in the wicket-takers list for her side in these formats.
She remained in great touch during June, and smashed her fourth ODI hundred in the first ODI against Ireland. Her knock came off 106 balls and included 10 fours and two sixes. She returned to wreak havoc with the ball, and picked 3/53. Among her wickets were Ireland top-scorers Gaby Lewis (83) and Laura Delany (40). Her Player of the Match winning performance helped West Indies to a 58-run triumph.
She backed this up with 1/4 in the second ODI, which was washed off due to rain.
Sensational all-round display from captain Matthews earns POTM | Women's T20WC 2023
A good start and two big wickets in an economical four-over spell saw Hayley Matthews win the Player of the Match award for West Indies against Pakistan at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023
