ICC Player of the Month: Lizelle Lee, Heather Knight shortlisted in women's category
Oct 06, 2021
Dubai [UAE], October 6 : The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday announced the September nominees for the ICC Player of the Month awards, instituted in January this year to recognise the best international performances across formats for male and female cricketers.
The nominees for September in the men's category are, Bangladesh's Nasun Ahmed, Nepal's Sandeep Lamichhane and the USA's Jaskaran Malhotra. Whilst England's Charlie Dean and her compatriot Heather Knight as well as Lizelle Lee from South Africa feature in this month's women's shortlist.
ICC Men's Player of the Month for September:
Nasun Ahmed (Bangladesh)
Nasun is a rising spinner in the Bangladeshi camp. He played five T20Is against New Zealand last month, where he took eight wickets in the 3-2 series win against the Kiwis. Highlighted by figures of 4-10 in the fourth match, which made him the first bowler from a full member nation to bowl two maidens in the same T20I match.
Sandeep Lamichhane (Nepal)
Sandeep has been the stand-out bowler in ICC World Cup Super League 2 last month. He played six ODIs and took 18 wickets in total with an economy rate of 3.17. Against Papa New Guinea Sandeep took 4-35 and 6-11, followed by 4-18 against Oman.
Jaskaran Malhotra (USA)
USA's Jaskaran Malhotra garnered instant world recognition with his feat of six sixes in an over against Papua New Guinea in the ICC World Cup Super League 2 game, last month. Malhotra became only the fourth player to strike six sixes in an over in an international fixture, joining an exclusive club that includes some of the game's greats.
ICC Women's Player of the Month for September:
Charlie Dean (England)
The 20-year-old off-spinner was England's leading wicket-taker as they defeated New Zealand 4-1 in their ODI series. Charlie took four wickets in the second match and three in the fourth against New Zealand. Charlie had marked only her second outing representing England last month.
Heather Knight (England)
Captain Heather Knight led England to a series victory over New Zealand, scoring 89 in the first ODI and 101 in the fourth. The allrounder scored a total of 214 runs in the five ODIs against New Zealand last month with a strike rate of 88.06 and took 3 wickets with an economy rate of 4.66.
Lizelle Lee (South Africa)
Lizelle played four ODIs against the West Indies last month where she scored a total of 248 runs with a strike rate of 72.09. She was the leading run-scorer in the ODI series against the West Indies, scoring 91 not out, 78 not out and 61 in the process. Lizelle was also voted as the ICC Women's Player of the Month for March earlier this year.
The three nominees for either category is shortlisted based on performances from the first to the last day of each calendar month. The shortlist is then voted on by the independent ICC Voting Academy* and fans around the world. The ICC Voting Academy comprises prominent members of the cricket fraternity including well-known journalists, former players, broadcasters, and members of the ICC Hall of Fame.