Sri Lankan Test stars Prabath Jayasuriya and Kamindu Mendis are among the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) shortlists for September’s ICC Player of the Month awards.

The list issued today, celebrates the outstanding individual performances that took place across a bumper month of action in international cricket.

The ICC Men’s Player of the Month candidates include three previous Player of the Month winners aiming to secure their second prize – two Sri Lankan Test stars, and a multi-format maestro from Australia.

Travis Head aims to win his second ICC Men’s Player of the Month award after excelling with bat and ball in the shorter formats against Scotland and England in September. 

Joining him on the shortlist for the monthly award is Sri Lankan pair Prabath Jayasuriya and Kamindu Mendis. Jayasuriya shone with the spinning ball, while Mendis celebrated another set of landmarks with strong performances in their World Test Championship outings against England and New Zealand.

The shortlist for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award pairs two experienced runscorers from England and the UAE with a promising Irish spinner.

Tammy Beaumont is nominated once more following a prolific month at the crease, spearheading England’s batting output in short format series in Ireland. The opposition enjoyed their own success during the series, with spinner Aimee Maguire grabbing a hatful of wickets during September’s contests. 

Completing the lineup is Esha Oza, whose runs and wickets helped the UAE seal the Tri-Nation Series in Namibia.

An independent ICC Voting Academy* and fans around the world will now be invited to cast their votes to decide the winners, which will be announced next week. Fans are now able to vote for their favourite performers at icc-cricket.com/awards.

ICC Men’s Player of the Month Nominees for September:

Travis Head (AUS)

The Australian all-rounder aims to win his second ICC Player of the Month award after 430 runs and six wickets in short format series in Scotland and England in September. The 30-year-old, having previously won in November 2023, began the month blasting 80 from 25 balls as Australia blew Scotland away in the first of three T20Is in Edinburgh. Two subdued performances followed, before returning to form as they crossed the border. Scores of 59 and 31 in T20Is were followed by strong performances in the ODI format, with Head claiming the Player of the Series accolade thanks to an unbeaten 154 and two wickets in Nottingham, and four wickets in the decisive victory in Bristol.

Prabath Jayasuriya (SL)

Another former winner of the Men’s Player of the Month award back in July 2022, Jayasuriya was a consistently threatening presence in the Sri Lankan bowling lineup during September. He took three wickets in the second Test defeat against England, yet saved his best individual performances for the visit of New Zealand to Galle. He claimed the Player of the Match award for nine wickets in the first Test, which included a pivotal five-for in the second innings to hold off the Blackcaps’ charge, and took another nine wickets in the second Test, highlighted by six for 42 in the first innings.

Kamindu Mendis (SL)

The 26-year-old has made plenty of headlines in 2024, and continues his record-breaking form in the longest format after a landmark September which included 451 runs at an average of 90.20 in four Tests. A half-century in the final Test victory over England preceded century scores of 114 and 182 not out respectively in the two Tests against New Zealand, making Mendis the first player to pass fifty in each of his first eight Tests, and the fastest batter in 75 years to reach 1,000 Test runs.

ICC Women’s Player of the Month Nominees for September:

Tammy Beaumont (ENG)

Evergreen England batter Beaumont also aims to win her second Player of the Month award after her sole previous success came in February 2021. The 33-year-old recorded 279 runs from her five matches in September, which included three ODIs and two T20Is against a spirited Ireland side. A blistering performance in the second ODI encounter in Belfast saw Beaumont smash an unbeaten 150 in 139 balls atop the order, as England sealed the series win with a statement victory. Another ODI half-century followed in the next match, before scores of 27 and 40 in the drawn T20I series wrapped up her tour.

Aimee Maguire (IRE)

18-year-old Maguire has made an impressive start to her international career since her debut last year, and hit the headlines in September after inspiring Ireland’s first ODI victory over England since 2001. The left-arm spinner claimed career-best figures of five for 19 in the third match, taking the prized wickets of Beaumont and Kate Cross to restrict the tourists and set up a famous win. Not done there, the youngster starred during the subsequent T20I matches, taking five more wickets across two matches at an average of 12.40.

Esha Oza (UAE)

UAE skipper Oza secures her second nomination in the ICC Women’s Player of the Month awards after Player of the Series endeavours in the UAE’s Capricorn Women’s Tri-Series triumph in Namibia. The all-rounder registered 209 runs and eight wickets from six T20I matches in September, highlighted by a fine display in their third match (42 and three for 29 against Namibia), and 84 in the following victory over Zimbabwe.

The ICC Player of the Month Voting Process:

The three nominees for either category are shortlisted based on performances from the first to the last day of each calendar month. The shortlist is then voted on by the independent ICC Voting Academy* and fans around the world. The ICC Voting Academy comprises prominent members of the cricket fraternity including well-known journalists, former players, broadcasters and members of the ICC Hall of Fame. The Voting Academy submit their votes by email and hold a 90 per cent share of the vote. Fans registered with the ICC can vote via the ICC website, accounting for the remaining 10 per cent. Winners are announced every second Monday of the month on ICC’s digital channels.

Voting Academy for ICC Player of the Month:

Afghanistan: Javed Hamim; Australia: Daniel Cherny and Lisa Sthalekar; Bangladesh: Mazhar Uddin and Md Ariful Islam Roney; England: Chris Stocks and Lydia Greenway; Ireland: Ger Siggins and Clare Shillington; India: S Gomesh and Shivani Gupta; New Zealand: Craig Cumming; Pakistan: Sawera Pasha and Sana Mir; South Africa: Zaahier Adams and Ashwell Prince; Sri Lanka: Azzam Ameen and Farveez Maharoof; West Indies: Daren Ganga and Stacy Ann King; Zimbabwe: Lawrence Trusida and Grant Flower; Others: Darren Allan Kyeyune and Kyle Coetzer. (ICC)

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Sri Lanka’s Prabath Jayasuriya leaped 13 slots to a career-best 19th in the bowling list of the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings following his 10-wicket haul against Ireland this past week. 

His performance, alongside centuries from teammates captain Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal and Sadeera Samarawickrama, helped Sri Lanka to a whopping innings and 280-run victory in the first of the two-match series in Galle.

Jayasuriya spun his way from 32nd place in the rankings to his personal best and rating points of 869.

In the batting list, Sri Lanka captain Karunaratne’s 179 runs from 235 balls advanced him one spot to ninth with 783 points, while Chandimal and Mendis rose to 14th and 42nd respectively.

Ireland’s Harry Tector shot up 21 slots to his own career-best 69th in the batting list with 444 rating points.

In the Ravichandran Ashwin-led bowling list, Mendis rose three spaces to 32nd, while Vishwa Fernando gained four places to 59th.

In the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings, the top three positions did not move in spite of the three-match T20I series between Pakistan and New Zealand in Lahore. Number three, captain Babar Azam continues to move closer to second spot, currently held in the safe hands of his teammate Mohammed Rizwan.

Babar smashed a spectacular and unbeaten 101 from just 58 deliveries in the second match to notch up his batting ratings points to 769, sliding him nearer to Rizwan, who sits on 798 points.

The pair trail India batting star, Suryakumar Yadav, who leads comfortably with 906 ratings points.

Other gains have been made by Pakistan all-rounder Iftikhar Ahmed, who has risen 11 spaces to number 44 on the batting list and five slots to 25th in the all-rounders list.

New Zealand skipper Tom Latham soared 87 spots to 66th in the batting rankings, while his teammate Mark Chapman also rose significantly from 119th to 83rd.

In other ranking news, Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan remains at the helm of the bowling list, while Pakistan’s Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi made the most noteworthy gains to 11th and 15th respectively, with the Blackcaps’ Ish Sodhi right behind, rising to 16th from 20th position. (ICC)

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