The International Cricket Council (ICC), on August 7, 2023, announced the names of Chris Woakes, Zak Crawley And Bas De Leede as the three nominees for the ICC Men’s Player of the Month award for July 2023.
All-rounder Chris Woakes and opening batter Zak Crawley will battle it out for the ICC Men’s Player of the Month Award for July 2023 after their Ashes 2023 heroics for England.
With a great performance for England at the top of the Ashes series, which resulted in a 2-2 tie, Zak Crawley blocked out external noise and made a point. Prior to the Ashes, there were doubts over Crawley’s spot in the team, but the England opener came out swinging and paid back the faith that captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had in him.
Crawley concluded the series with 480 runs at a striking rate of 89 and an amazing average of 53.3. With only a few single-figure scores, his reliable hitting performance was a series high point. His spirited 189 at Manchester was a notable knock.
His teammate Chris Woakes played only 3 Tests after joining the heated Ashes series only in the 3rd Test in Headingley. However, he managed to pick up 19 wickets in those 3 outings, leading to him being named the Player of the Series for England in Ashes 2023.
Woakes’ influence to the series extended beyond his bowling performance. Away from the spotlight, he demonstrated his worth as a player by consistently producing match-winning performances for England.
His inclusion in the Ashes 2023 was a turning point that sparked England’s series comeback. Woakes won the Compton-Miller medal as a result of his remarkable performance in the Ashes.
Bas De Leede’s Performances Put Netherlands In The World Cup 2023
The third nominee is Netherlands’ Bas de Leede, who played a huge role in his team’s qualifying for the main draw of the ICC World Cup 2023 to be played in India in October-November.
The 23-year-old took 5/52 and struck 123 for Netherlands against Scotland in Bulawayo to ensure the men in orange pipped their opponents to the final tournament spot on net run rate.
He joined Viv Richards, Paul Collingwood, Rohan Mustafa, and Amelia Kerr as the only players in ODI cricket history to record both a five-wicket haul and a century.
? Two Ashes top performers
? A #CWC23 Qualifier starNominees for the ICC Men’s Player of the Month for July 2023 are out!
— ICC (@ICC) August 7, 2023