Matthews lands another ICC Player of the Month nomination

West Indies captain Hayley Matthews has once again been shortlisted for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award, this time for May 2025, following another round of standout performances in both One Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is).

The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced its nominees for May on Tuesday, as Matthews continues to assert her dominance as one of the premier all-rounders in the women’s game. The dynamic Barbadian, who currently holds the number one ranking for T20I all-rounders and sits second in ODIs, delivered consistent performances with both bat and ball across formats.

In the opening ODI against England in Derby, Matthews scored a crucial 48 runs and picked up two wickets, despite her team falling short. That performance followed a Player-of-the-Series showing in the preceding T20I series, where she topped the run charts with 177 runs at a blistering strike rate of over 137 and also chipped in with three wickets.

Matthews is joined on the women’s shortlist by South Africa’s Chloe Tryon and India’s Jemimah Rodrigues. Tryon impressed in the Sri Lanka tri-series, as she scored 176 runs at a strike rate of 131.34 and captured six wickets, including a five-wicket haul against Sri Lanka that featured a hat-trick.

Meanwhile, Rodrigues scored 204 runs in three matches during the same tri-series, highlighted by a commanding 123 off 101 balls against South Africa.

In the men’s category, all-rounders Brendon McMullen of Scotland and Milind Kumar of the USA, along with UAE opener Muhammad Waseem, earned nominations for their outstanding efforts in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 and other limited-overs fixtures.

McMullen tallied 233 runs and 10 wickets in five ODIs, while Kumar posted 201 runs and nine wickets, becoming the first American to score a half-century and take five wickets in the same ODI. Waseem contributed across both formats and led UAE to a historic T20I series win over Bangladesh.

The ICC Player of the Month awards are determined by the ICC Voting Academy and fan votes worldwide, with winners selected based on performances across the calendar month.

(Sportsmax)