Beth Mooney, England's Grace Scrivens among nominees for ICC Player of Month Award for January
Feb 07, 2023
Dubai [UAE], February 7 : Australian batter Beth Mooney, teenage sensation Phoebe Litchfield and England U19 all-round star Grace Scrivens were announced as the nominees for the ICC Women's Player of the Month Award for January 2023.
While Litchfield is a player to watch in the future, fellow Australian Beth Mooney is a player for the now and present and the ever-consistent left-hander may have even outshone her more junior teammate during the series against Pakistan.
Mooney was actually dismissed for just one in the opening game of the ODI series against Pakistan, but the 29-year-old responded like all good players do with consecutive big scores to earn the Player of the Series award.
The unbeaten 57* in the second match in Brisbane was just a tease for what was to come, with Mooney scoring the third ODI century of her career when dining out on Pakistan's helpless bowlers during the final match of the series in Sydney.
Mooney finished the series with more runs than any other player (191) and then warmed up for this month's ICC Women's T20 World Cup in style when hitting a team-best 46 in another Player of the Match performance during the T20I series against Pakistan in Hobart.
The teenage sensation Litchfield burst onto the international scene in a big way during January as she amassed a whopping 154 runs while being dismissed just once in three ODI matches against Pakistan.
Litchfield looked composed while compiling an unbeaten 78* on debut in the opening game of the series in Brisbane and then backed that up with an even more impressive innings of 67* in the second match.
While Litchfield was dismissed for just nine in the third and final game of the series in Sydney, it left the 19-year-old with a jaw-dropping ODI average of 154 after just three 50-over matches at the highest level.
The England youngster Grace displayed experience beyond her years when leading her side to the final of the inaugural Women's Under-19 T20 World Cup in South Africa last month.
Scrivens hit three half-centuries and amassed 293 runs while chipping in with nine valuable wickets to ensure England remained unbeaten at the tournament all the way through to the title decider against India in Potchefstroom.
While it did not go to plan for Scrivens or England in the final, the 19-year-old can at least hold her head high for the consistent performances she produced on the big stage in what looms as the start of a prosperous international career.