ICC announces nominations for Women's Player of the Month Award for April
The International Cricket Council (ICC) recently announced its nominees for the Women's Player of the Month Award for April. Two Australians and one New Zealand international made the cut. The three nominees are Megan Schutt (Australia), Alyssa Healy (Australia) & Leigh Kasperek (New Zealand).
The winner is decided based on online votes organized by the ICC. Fans can vote using the link here.
In March, South African batter Lizelle Lee won the ICC Player of the month award for her impressive performance with the bat in the limited-overs series against India.
Lee scored two half-centuries and a century in the 4-match ODI series and is currently the second-ranked batter in the ICC ODI rankings for batswoman.
How did the three ICC nominees perform in April?
Wicketkeeper batter Alyssa Healy played 3 ODIs in April against New Zealand, where Australia won the series 3-0. Healy finished as the top run-scorer for the Aussies, amassing 155 runs at an average of 51.66, while her strike rate was a healthy 98.72.
She also achieved the remarkable feat of representing Australia in 200 matches across all formats. Healy is the third Australian to achieve such a feat after Ellyse Perry and Alex Blackwell.
Off-spinner Leigh Kasperek played two ODIs against Australia last month, where she picked 9 wickets, including a career-best figure of 6-46 in the second ODI. However, her effort eventually came in a losing cause as the Blackcaps were bowled out for 200 while chasing 272 for the win.
Megan Schutt was the pick of the bowlers from Australia against the Kiwis. The medium-pacer picked 7 wickets in three games at an economy of 4.66. The 28-year-old won the Player of the Series award for her tidy bowling performance.