Bates, Dean, Gardner in shortlist for ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for December 2022

New Delhi:  The all-round trio of Suzie Bates (New Zealand), Charlie Dean (England) and Ashleigh Gardner (Australia) find themselves in the shortlist of the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for December 2022.

Suzie was a key figure in both the ODI and T20I successes in the home series against Bangladesh. Her highlight came as she scored a graceful 93 not out in the first 50-over match. With 223 runs across both series, the New Zealand opener has her first nomination for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month crown.

England enjoyed a dominant series of results over the West Indies in last month’s ODI and T20I encounters, and Charlie was a constant threat with the ball as she claimed 18 wickets across both formats in December.

The leading wicket-taker in both series, Charlie took four wickets on two separate occasions. Alongside her impressive strike rate, she also boasted an astonishing economy rate – 2.92 in ODIs and 4.64 in T20Is, further highlighting her restrictive impact on opposition batters.

Ashleigh rose to the top of the ICC Women’s T20I Player rankings for all-rounders in December after her heroics with bat and ball inspired Australia to a 4-1 T20I series victory in India. Also celebrating her maiden nomination for the Player of the Month award, Ashleigh’s month culminated in 115 runs at an average of 57.50 and seven wickets at 18.28.

She saved perhaps her best performance for the final game at Brabourne Stadium, scoring an unbeaten 66 to save a stuttering Australian innings before two crucial wickets, including that of the dangerous opener Shafali Verma, and helped restrict the home team and cause them to fall short by 54 runs.

–IANS