ICC announces inaugural Player of the Month Award

The International Cricket Council (ICC), on Wednesday, have introduced the ICC Player of the Month awards “which will recognise and celebrate the best performances of both male and female cricketers across all forms of international cricket throughout the year”.

The governing council has invited fans to vote online every month for their “favourite male and female cricketers across all formats of international cricket played in that month”.

“An independent ICC Voting Academy comprising former players, broadcasters, and journalists from around the world, will team up with fans to vote for the ICC Men’s Player of the Month and ICC Women’s Player of the Month,” ICC wrote in its statement.

For the inaugural edition of the Player of the Month, performances of cricketers across all ages and formats have been named. Of them, five of the candidates are Indian cricketers: Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, T. Natarajan, Rishabh Pant and Ravichandran Ashwin. All five of these Indian nominees were a part of the 4-match Test series in Australia and are being rewarded for their exceptional performances down under.

The other nominees for the award in the month of January are: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (AFG), Joe Root (ENG), Steve Smith (AUS),



Marizanne Kapp (SA), Nadine de Klerk (SA), Nida Dar (PAK).

“The ICC Player of the Month is a great way to connect with fans of the sport and celebrate performances of their favourite players through the year. It gives us all an opportunity to acknowledge world class performances on the field by male and female cricketers and they have been in abundance throughout January.” Geoff Allardice, ICC General Manager Cricket said.

“The three nominees for each of the categories will be determined by the ICC Awards Nominations Committee based on on-field performances and overall achievements during the period of that month (the first to the last day of each calendar month.)

This shortlist is then voted for by the independent ICC Voting Academy and fans around the world. The ICC Voting Academy comprising prominent members of the cricket family including senior journalists, former players, and broadcasters.”

“The Voting Academy will submit their votes by email and will retain a 90% share of the vote. Subsequently, on the 1st day of each month, fans registered with the ICC will be able to submit votes via the ICC website and will have a 10% share of the vote. Winners will be announced every second Monday of the month on the ICC’s digital channels.”