England spinner Sophie Ecclestone has been shortlisted for women’s T20 player of the year in the International Cricket Council’s 2023 awards.
The left-armer, the world’s number one ranked bowler in both white-ball formats, claimed 23 wickets in 11 games last year at an average of 10.60 despite spending four months out with a dislocated shoulder.
The 24-year-old was the top wicket-taker at the T20 World Cup in February with 11, but could not inspire England beyond the semi-final stage.
She is up against three high-class all-rounders, with Australia’s Ellyse Perry, West Indian Hayley Mathews and Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu also nominated.
Ecclestone’s team-mate Lauren Bell is also up for an award after making the cut for women’s emerging player of the year. The tall seamer established herself as a first-choice across all three forms, picking up a total of 22 wickets.
She goes up against Scotland’s Darcey Carter, who made 224 runs and took 13 T20 wickets in her first six months as a full international, Australia’s Phoebe Litchfield and Bangladesh’s Marufa Akter.
The men’s T20 shortlist included 2022 winner Suryakumar Yadav of India, New Zealand’s Mark Chapman, Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza and Uganda’s Alpesh Ramjani – who helped his side qualify for their first ever World Cup.
Gerald Coetzee (South Africa), Yashasvi Jaiswal (India), Dilshan Madushanka (Sri Lanka) and Rachin Ravindra (New Zealand) compete for the men’s emerging player. Nominees for Test and ODI awards will be released later this week.
Matthews, the number one-ranked ICC Women's T20I all-rounder put together a remarkable series of performances last year, as she racked up 700 runs in the year, the most by any player in a year in Women's T20Is. She also picked up 19 wickets at an average of 16.21 in a mere 14 matches for the year.
The 25-year-old Barbadian is up against three high-class players, with, England’s Sophie Ecclestone, the top ranked T20 international bowler, Australia’s Ellyse Perry, and Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu also nominated.
Matthews’ stellar display against Australia in a bilateral T20I series in the second half of the year, was one for the ages. During that series, she posted scores of an unbeaten 99, 132 and 79, as she proved to be a thorn to the Australian side.
Matthews’ extraordinary unbeaten 99 in the first game of the series was overshadowed by her mind-blowing 132 in a run-chase of 213 in Sydney. The world-record run-chase in women's T20Is saw Matthews break several records, including that of the highest individual score in a women’s T20I run-chase.
Her overall tally of 310 runs in the series is the most by any player in a women's T20I bilateral series. Matthews also enjoyed good form in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup, where she tallied 130 runs and took four wickets and four catches.
The hard-hitting Matthews produced a match-winning performance in a tight encounter against Ireland at the T20 World Cup. In that contest, she picked up four wickets and made a 34-ball 48, but her remarkable 132 against Australia overshadowed it all.
Having taken three wickets for 36 runs with the ball as Australia made a whopping 212, West Indies were faced with a daunting task in the run-chase, but nothing could have prepared anyone for Matthews’ innings.
She hit two fours and a six in the 17th over of the run-chase to raise her century off just 53 balls, and then clubbed Jess Jonassen for four fours in a row in the 19th over to bring the equation down to eight runs needed off six balls.
While Matthews was dismissed in the over, she had set the stage for one of the most outrageous women's T20I wins of all-time with her blistering 132 off just 64 balls. The innings was studded with 20 fours and five sixes, as 110 of her 132 runs came in boundaries.
Meanwhile, the men’s T20 shortlist includes 2022 winner Suryakumar Yadav of India, New Zealand’s Mark Chapman, Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza and Uganda’s Alpesh Ramjani – who helped his side qualify for their first ever World Cup.
Gerald Coetzee (South Africa), Yashasvi Jaiswal (India), Dilshan Madushanka (Sri Lanka) and Rachin Ravindra (New Zealand), compete for the men’s emerging player.
Nominees for Test and ODI awards will be released later this week.
