The ICC has named its nominees for Player of the Month for July, and it’s a list packed with match-winning knocks, career-best innings and all-round brilliance across three continents.
On the men’s side, England captain Harry Brook, West Indies all-rounder Justin Greaves and Bangladesh opener Tanzid Hasan have made the cut. For the women, England skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt, Sri Lanka’s Harshitha Samarawickrama and West Indies captain Hayley Matthews are in the running.
A tale of two formats for Brook
Harry Brook didn’t have the smoothest time with the bat in England’s ODI series, managing just 31 runs across the matches. But he made up for it in some style once the T20Is rolled around. He smashed 229 runs in five innings at an average of 114.50, striking at a frankly ridiculous 214.01. Unsurprisingly, he walked away with the Player of the Series award and finished as the tournament’s top run-getter.
Greaves does it all for the Windies
It’s been a hectic few weeks for West Indies, and Justin Greaves has barely put a foot wrong with bat or ball. After the hosts won the opening Test against Sri Lanka in Antigua, Greaves played a huge part in saving the second, grinding out 180 in reply to a mammoth 549 for 9 declared. That draw sealed the series for his side.
He kept the good form going against Pakistan in Trinidad, picking up five wickets for 27 in the first Test and two for 12 in the second to help West Indies draw that series too. All told, Greaves ended July with 215 runs at 71.66 and eight wickets at a tidy 10.25 across just two Tests.
Tanzid leads the way in Zimbabwe
Bangladesh’s tour of Zimbabwe wasn’t easy, but Tanzid Hasan was the one batter who kept turning up. He scored 159 runs in three ODIs at an average of 53.00, striking at 89.83, then carried that form straight into the T20Is with 140 runs at 70.00 and a strike rate of 127.27. By the end of the tour, he was the leading run-scorer in both white-ball formats.
Sciver-Brunt battles through injury to inspire England
Nat Sciver-Brunt’s Player of the Month case is built on grit as much as runs. Carrying a calf injury through the Women’s T20 World Cup, she saved England’s semi-final against South Africa almost single-handedly, walking in with the score on 23 for three inside four overs and grinding out 75 off 47 balls. Her 133-run partnership with Heather Knight dragged England into the final.
They couldn’t get past Australia on the day, but Sciver-Brunt still finished unbeaten on 58 from 53 balls after the rest of the batting order struggled to get going.
Samarawickrama shines as Sri Lanka beat Pakistan
Harshitha Samarawickrama was the difference-maker as Sri Lanka won 2-1 against Pakistan. After a quiet start in the series opener, she hit back with 100 off 119 balls in the second match, then backed it up with an unbeaten 71 from 92 as Sri Lanka wrapped up the series with an eight-wicket win in Hambantota. Her 173 runs across the series, at a strike rate of 77.23, earned her the Player of the Series award.
Matthews stars with bat and ball against Ireland
Hayley Matthews’ all-round numbers against Ireland speak for themselves. She opened the series with a career-best 159 not out while chasing, having already taken three for 52 with the ball at the Bready Cricket Ground. She followed that up with another hundred, 100 off 94 balls, plus two more wickets in the second match, and even with the bat quieter in the third, she still picked up two for 37 as West Indies completed a 3-0 clean sweep.
Voting for the ICC Player of the Month award is open now, with the winners set to be announced in the coming weeks.
