Dubai: Two of England’s Ashes stars — top order batter Zak Crawley and bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes — along with young Dutch batting all-rounder Bas de Leede have been nominated for the ICC’s Men’s Player of the Month award for July.
England opener Zak Crawley topped the run-scoring charts for the home side and inspired England’s fightback in the series from the top of the order with a string of notable batting displays.
The right-hander was the highest runs-scorer for England in the recently concluded Ashes even against the new ball, and he was prolific particularly across his knocks in July, most notably his 189 (182) at Old Trafford.
Chris Woakes returned to the side staring down a two-nil series deficit and bowled brilliantly to take important wickets throughout the remainder of the series.
The 34-year-old pacer took five wickets in the first innings in Manchester, and a total of seven wickets in the final Test, plus another contribution with the bat at The Oval to help England to a 2-2 series draw.
Despite his limited involvement, playing three of the five Test matches, Woakes went on to claim the Ashes 2023 Player of the Series.
Completing the shortlist, the Netherlands’ De Leede produced a performance for the ages in the winner-takes-all battle against Scotland at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, earning their first Cricket World Cup appearance since 2011 as a result of his heroics.
The 23-year-old took 5-52 and struck 123 for the Netherlands against Scotland in Bulawayo to ensure the Men in Orange pipped their opponents to the final tournament spot on Net Run Rate.
In the process, he became just the fifth player in the history of ODI cricket to achieve the five-wicket/century double, joining Viv Richards, Paul Collingwood, Rohan Mustafa, and Amelia Kerr.
–IANS
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