The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the list of nominees for the Women’s Cricketer of the Year 2024 in the one-day Internationals (ODI). Four of the finest players across the countries have made his inclusions, and only one Indian has been rewarded in the group.
The list of the ICC award nominees starts with the opening batter of the South Africa side, Laura Wolvaardt, who has been part of 12 games in the 50-over format, managing 697 runs at an average of 87.12 and a strike rate of 87.34. It wasn’t a great start in the year for her, having collected only seven runs in the first three innings against Australia.
But then she turned the table and smashed a career-best knock of unbeaten 184 runs in Potchefstroom, while the 25-year-old drilled three centuries in four games with a knock of 135 runs against India in Bengaluru in the middle of the year.
That 184 runs was the best moment for Wolvaardt in the year in the 50-over format, as it came in just 147 balls and helped the side post a massive total of 301/5 against Sri Lanka in April.
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The second player on the list is the opening batter of Sri Lanka, Chamari Athapaththu, who ended the year with 458 runs in nine innings of the 50-over format at an average of 65.42 and a strike rate of 101.10, besides picking up nine wickets at an average of 32.22 and an economy rate of under five.
Smriti Mandhana and Annabel Sutherland were nominated for ICC’s women’s ODI cricketer award
She didn’t make her first appearance in the 50-over format till April of the ongoing year but hit the ground immediately with the scores of 51 and an unbeaten 195 runs in a 1-1 series result against South Africa away from home. The 34-year-old ended a three-match series in the format against West Indies with a golden whitewash of a 3-0 margin, as she managed 130 runs and four wickets.
The biggest moment of the year in the format for the veteran was that superb 195-run knock that led them to victory in the Rainbow Nation. Chasing over 300 is never an easy job, but Chamari had other plans in carrying the side over the line.
The third player on the list for the ICC award is the left-handed opening batter of the Indian side, Smriti Mandhana, who cracked 743 runs for India in 12 innings of the ODI format at an average of 61.91 and a strike rate of nearly 97. She also bagged a prize wicket in the period.
Mandhana managed 343 runs in the three innings against South Africa at home, where he got her third century of the year, besides smashing another hundred in the final match of their home series against New Zealand at home, just after the end of the ICC T20 World Cup.
The most memorable moment for her in the middle was that 136 runs in 120 deliveries with 18 boundaries and two sixes against SA in June, which helped them get 325/3.
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The fourth of the list in the ICC award nominees is Annabel Sutherland from Australia, who cracked 369 runs in nine innings at 52.71 and a strike rate of 100.27 besides her 13 wickets at an average of 4.19. The talented all-rounder managed an unbeaten knock of 58 runs in a tough chase against Bangladesh in the series opener in Mirpur.
The best moment for the ICC nominee was when she smashed 110 runs in 95 balls against the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side, last month.