Malaysian, Dutch women players among ICC Players of the Month nominees

It is quite a victory for Associate and upcoming cricket nations that all three ICC Women’s Player of the Month nominees belong to them.

The International Cricket Council (ICC), which is the world governing body for cricket, on Thursday announced Ainna Hamizah Hashim of Malaysia, Arlene Kelly of Ireland and Iris Zwilling of Netherlands as the August Player of the Month nominees among women even as the men’s Players of the Month belonged to established Test nations, Pakistan (Babar Azam and Shadab Khan) and West Indies (Nicholas Pooran).

Ainna was the top-scorer in the recent quadrangular tournament in the south-east Asian nation that also featured Kuwait, Nepal and Hong Kong besides host Malaysia. She aggregated 91 runs in the event.

A statement from the ICC said on Ainna, “The all-rounder has been a regular fixture in Malaysia’s growth in the T20I format, and thanks to her performances with bat and ball in August, she becomes her country’s first ever nominee in the Player of the Month awards.”

The ICC also acknowledged the right-handed batter’s performance with the ball that saw her chip in with crucial wickets with her right-arm pace.

“As well as topping the run-scoring charts, Hamizah Hashim also chipped in with key wickets during Malaysia Women’s Quadrangular T20I Series and subsequently the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier, most notably in winning causes against Kuwait and Nepal. Throughout the month, she recorded 105 runs at an average of 52.50 with six wickets.”

Arlene is a right-arm pace bowling all-rounder and she did well this month like Ainna.

The ICC acknowledged her performance stating, “Kelly enjoyed a prolific month with the ball in August, and orchestrated much of the success that saw Ireland sweep Netherlands 3-0 in Amstelveen. Her 10 wickets included a Player of the Match performance in the first T20I thanks to a spell of five wickets for 12 runs.”

The statement added her recent performances.  

“Three for 11 and two for 20 followed in the final two duels, leaving Kelly with a spectacular average of 4.30 from the series.”

If Arlene wins the award, she will be the second Irish woman after Laura Delany to win Women’s Player of the Month for Ireland. Delany did it in October, 2021.

Netherlands have been having a good time of late and right-handed opening batter Iris Zwilling becomes the second Dutch after men’s compatriot Bas de Leede to be nominated for the ICC prize.

De Leede was nominated in July.

“Zwilling scored 178 runs from her six outings during the calendar month, registering half-centuries against both opponents from atop the order. Strengthening her claim for the prize is also an impressive strike rate of 102, and economical bowling spells,” said the statement from ICC.

Cricket, ICC, Malaysia, Ireland, Netherlands