Gudakesh Motie
West Indies slow left-arm orthodox bowler Gudakesh Motie is reaping the benefits of his consistent performances in recent times, as he has been shortlisted for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Player of the Month awards, which celebrates the outstanding performers from international competition in May.
The Guyanese, who is currently on duty with the West Indies at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, is joined by Pakistan's Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Ireland's Lorcan Tucker on the men's list released by ICC on Friday. The women's list is headlined by Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu, with England's Sophie Ecclestone and Scotland's captain Kathryn Bryce, the other nominees.
Motie, 29, earned a nomination after his Player of the Series exploits in West Indies whitewash series triumph over South Africa. Similarly, Pakistan pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi enjoyed a prolific wicket-taking month in his side’s T20I tours of Ireland and England last month, while Ireland's wicketkeeper/batsman Tucker recorded consistent scores against Pakistan, Netherlands and Scotland in his side’s preparations for the T20 World Cup.
Like Motie, Afridi and Tucker are both on duty at the T20 World Cup being hosted in the Caribbean and United States.
Meanwhile, two stars from the recently concluded ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in the UAE are nominated in the Women’s Player of the Month category, alongside an England spin sensation.
Sri Lankan skipper Athapaththu is nominated for the second month in a row after topping the run-scoring charts in Abu Dhabi and hitting a sparkling century in the final match. She is joined by Scotland skipper Bryce, who led her side to an historic first qualification for a women’s World Cup event thanks to memorable individual contributions. England’s Ecclestone is the third name in contention, nominated for more wicket-taking feats as her side overcame Pakistan in both shorter formats last month.
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.
Shaheen Shah Afridi
ICC Men’s Player of the Month Nominees for May:
Gudakesh Motie (WI)
The West Indies’ left-arm spinner enjoyed plenty of success in the home series against South Africa in May, taking eight wickets across three matches at an average of 8.50, as the hosts sealed a statement 3-0 victory in Jamaica. Motie took three for 25 in the opening contest to restrict the tourists’ chase and he backed that performance up with another impressive spell of three for 22 to stifle the middle order in the second fixture. Another two wickets in the final match turned the tide in favour of the hosts once more and allowed the 29-year-old to claim the Player of the Series accolade.
Shaheen Shah Afridi (PAK)
Pakistan’s frontline pacer is nominated for the second successive month after another blistering spell of fast bowling in May. Afridi took ten wickets in his five T20I contests during the month, which included three consecutive three-wicket hauls. Spells of three for 49 and three for 14 against Ireland helped Pakistan overturn a series deficit to win in Dublin, before the 24-year-old followed up with three for 36 against England in Birmingham. The three-time nominee has never won a Men’s Player of the Month award but has a strong case to claim his maiden prize.
Lorcan Tucker (IRE)
The wicketkeeper-batter aims to become the first Irish winner of the Men’s Player of the Month award since Harry Tector in May 2023, and is nominated thanks to explosive run-scoring feats during a busy month of international competition. Tucker top-scored for Ireland in the second and third matches against Pakistan with successive quickfire scores of 51 and 73, and carried that momentum into the tri-series against Scotland and Netherlands, hitting 40 and 55 as Ireland sealed confidence boosting wins ahead of their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup campaign.
Scotland's Kathryn Bryce
ICC Women’s Player of the Month Nominees for May:
Chamari Athapaththu (SL)
Athapaththu has been no stranger to personal accolades in recent months, and continued her inspiring form in May as Sri Lanka booked their place at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 in Bangladesh with victory at the Qualifier in Abu Dhabi. The captain topped the runscoring charts at the event, and recorded 151 runs and six wickets in May’s contests. Once qualification was sealed, Athapaththu saved her best performance for last, smashing 102 in 63 balls against Scotland in a Player of the Match performance which guided her side to the trophy.
Kathryn Bryce (SCO)
Despite missing the final match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier last month through injury, Player of the Tournament Bryce spearheaded an historic campaign for Scotland which saw them qualify for their first ever women’s World Cup event. Chasing 100 for victory against Thailand, Bryce came in after an early wicket to steer her side to victory with a commanding unbeaten 63 in 58 balls. With qualification on the line against Ireland in the semi-final, Bryce produced more heroics, dismissing both of Ireland’s openers in the first over on her way to career-best figures of four for eight runs before hitting the winning runs in her 35 not out to cue jubilant celebrations.
Sophie Ecclestone (ENG)
Ecclestone sits at the top of the ICC Women’s T20I and ODI Bowler Rankings, and demonstrated her prowess in both formats with impressive performances in May. The left-arm spinner was a threat throughout England’s double series triumph over Pakistan, taking five wickets in the T20I contests, and six wickets in the ODIs. Among her highlights from the month was a commanding spell of three for 11 in the second T20I at Northampton, and back-to-back three-wicket hauls in both of the completed ODI encounters, earning her the Player of the Series prize.
CG United Super50 Cup final between Scorpions, Pride abandoned due to inclement weather
The CG United Super50 final between the Jamaica Scorpions and the Barbados Pride was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to the inclement weather at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy on Saturday.
Barbados Pride, with six titles plus one shared, were hoping to break a mini drought having last won in 2016-17, while Jamaica, with eight titles plus one shared, had ambitions to get back to the summit as their last title was in the 2022-23 season.
Greaves’ maiden century powers Windies to control on day two as Bangladesh reeling at 40-2
West Indies took firm control of their opening Test match against Bangladesh as Justin Greaves’ maiden century piloted the Caribbean side to a mammoth first innings total of 450-9 declared at the Sir Viv Richards Stadium in Antigua on Saturday.
The hosts then restricted Bangladesh to 40-2 at the close of day two, leaving the visitors with a steep challenge ahead as they look to recover from a poor start.
Mominul Haque, not out on 7, and Shahadat Hossain, unbeaten on 10, will resume on Sunday with Bangladesh at 40-2, still trailing by 410 runs.
Greaves, who enjoyed sublime form in the Super50 Cup with three consecutive centuries, continued that rich vein of form with an unbeaten 115 that anchored West Indies’ innings and ensured a daunting total on the board.
The 30-year-old’s knock, which lasted just over six hours, had only four boundaries and was crucial in reviving the innings after a mid-session slump.
Scores: West Indies 450-9 dec; Bangladesh 40-2
West Indies resumed the day at 250-5 with Greaves on 11, and Joshua da Silva, 14, looking to consolidate their position. However, early breakthroughs from Bangladesh’s Hasan Mahmud threatened to derail the West Indies’ momentum.
Mahmud struck in the first session, removing da Silva without addition to his overnight score, and Alzarri Joseph (four), who also fell cheaply to leave West Indies at a precarious 261-7.
At that point, the Bangladesh bowlers seemed poised to bowl the Caribbean side down for a score under 300, but Greaves and veteran pacer Kemar Roach had other ideas.
The two Barbadians countered the pressure with patience, building a partnership of 140 runs for the eighth wicket that pushed West Indies past the 400-run mark.
Roach, who had previously struggled with the bat in Tests, made 47—his highest Test score in his 15-year career. He batted for over four hours, frustrating the Bangladesh bowlers with steady defence and timely strokes.
Together, Roach and Greaves weathered the storm, forcing Bangladesh to toil longer and harder than expected. Greaves, in particular, looked in complete control, while Roach’s composed knock provided vital support.
West Indies then made quick inroads in Bangladesh’s reply and reduced the visitors to 2-21, with both openers back in the pavilion cheaply. Alzarri Joseph was the first to strike, removing Mahmudul Hasan Joy for just five runs before Jayden Seales cleaned up Zakir Hasan for 15.
With Bangladesh struggling at 2-21, it seemed as though West Indies were on the brink of another quick domination as they sought to dismiss the Bangladesh top-order cheaply. However, Mominul Haque and Shahadat Hossain managed to negotiate the remainder of the day without further loss.
Australia have 'serious work to do' against India, McSweeney concedes
Nathan McSweeney conceded Australia have "serious work to do" if they are to get back into the first Test against India.
The Baggy Greens trail by 218 runs heading into day three in Perth after an unbroken century partnership of Yashasvi Jaiswal (90) and KL Rahul (62) put the tourists well in control at 172-0 at stumps.
Though they resumed at 67-7, Australia could only add another 37 runs and were bowled out for 104.
McSweeney acknowledged the hosts must improve, and quickly.
"It definitely hasn't gone to plan in the past couple of days," he told ABC. "We've got some serious work to do to get back into this Test. It looks like it is getting easier to bat, so hopefully we get early wickets tomorrow and get batting.
"It is definitely a new-ball wicket. All the damage was done before we could get through to the 35-40-over mark with the bat, so the trick will be nullifying the new ball and having batters in for the 40-80-over mark."
Former Australia head coach Darren Lehmann added: "It was a tough day, but hats off to the two Indian batters. They were excellent today and weathered the storm, and they got to the stage where they could take the game on.
"India are well ahead of the game. The wicket has settled down a little bit, but that is more because the Australia bowlers were tired from the first innings and having to bat two hours today."
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