Two of South Africa’s heroes who ended a 27-year ICC trophy drought—Aiden Markram and Kagiso Rabada—have been shortlisted for the ICC Player of the Month award for June.
Joining them in the race is Sri Lanka’s Pathum Nissanka, whose exceptional form with the bat led his team to a Test series win against Bangladesh. The Sri Lankan opener has earned a spot on the ICC’s shortlist for ‘Player of the Month’ honors.
The ICC announced the names of the shortlisted men’s and women’s nominees for June on Monday. On the women’s side, the contenders include South Africa’s Tazmin Brits, and West Indies players Hayley Matthews and Afy Fletcher.
Pathum Nissanka (Sri Lanka)
Nissanka was in red-hot form during the two-match Test series at home against Bangladesh. In the first Test in Galle, he punished the visiting bowlers with a career-best 187 off 256 balls, hitting 23 fours and a six.
Although Najmul Hossain Shanto, with twin centuries, was named Player of the Match in the drawn Test, it was Nissanka who stole the spotlight in the second Test in Colombo. He struck 158 off 254 balls, featuring 19 boundaries, leading Sri Lanka to a commanding win.
He was named Player of the Match and, with a total of 369 runs in the series, also bagged the Player of the Series award.
Aiden Markram (South Africa)
After getting dismissed for a duck in the first innings of the ICC World Test Championship Final at Lord’s, Markram came back with a masterclass. In the second innings, while chasing 282, he played a stunning match-winning knock of 136 off 207 balls. South Africa clinched the title with five wickets in hand—securing their first ICC trophy in 27 years.
Markram also took two wickets in the match and was named Player of the Match.
Kagiso Rabada (South Africa)
While Markram starred with the bat, Rabada led South Africa’s bowling attack. In the first innings, he took 5 wickets for 51 runs to bowl out Australia for 212. In the second innings, he picked up 4 more for 59, dismissing the Aussies for 207. His combined figures played a pivotal role in South Africa’s historic victory.
Tazmin Brits (South Africa)
Brits had a brilliant series against West Indies in both ODIs and T20Is. In the 2-1 ODI series win, she scored 184 runs across three matches at a strike rate of 87.61. She delivered a match-winning century in the third ODI—101 off 91 balls.
Despite a 2-1 T20I series loss, Brits shone with the bat, scoring 132 runs in three games at a strike rate of 122.22. She notched up her career-best score—an unbeaten 98 off 63 balls—in the opening match.
Hayley Matthews (West Indies)
Against South Africa, Matthews scored 104 runs in the ODI series and claimed 4 wickets with her off-spin. In the T20Is, she played a leading role in West Indies’ series win, smashing two fifties and scoring 147 runs at a strike rate of 120.49. She also took 2 wickets and was named Player of the Series.
Afy Fletcher (West Indies)
The 38-year-old leg-spinner was the top wicket-taker for West Indies in both the ODI and T20I series against South Africa. She claimed 8 wickets in the ODIs, including 7 across just two matches, and also contributed 30 runs with the bat.
Overall, she finished with 9 wickets from four ODIs in June. In the T20Is, she grabbed 5 wickets, maintaining an economy rate of 6.75 per over.
