By Sukuoluhle Ndlovu
Scotland’s Kathryn Bryce and Bangladesh Mushfiqur Rahim have been crowned the winners of the International Cricket Council (ICC) awards for the month of May 2021.
The awards were introduced to recognise and celebrate the best performances from both male and female cricketers across all forms of international cricket throughout the year. The nominees are selected basing on their field performances and overall achievements during the month.
All rounder Bryce from Scotland was deservingly voted for the ICC women’s player. She is the first player from Scotland male or female to make it to the top 10 of the batting or bowling lists in the MRF Tyres ICC player rankings released recently. Bryce played four T20Is against Ireland where she scored 96runs and took 5 wickets with an economy rate of 4.76 in the month of May.
Rahim was also deservingly named the ICC Men’s player as he played one test and three One Day International (ODI) s against Sri Lanka in the month of May where he helped Bangladesh win their first ODI series against Sri Lanka by scoring 125 in the second ODI.
Ramiz Raja who commented on Bryce’s performance for the month of May, he said “Kathryn’s all round game came through in a series that her team lost. She battled with flair and bowled well too and deserved to be the player of the month for May,” he said.
VVS Laxman who was representing the ICC voting academy commenting on Rahim’s performance, he said, “Even after 15 years at the highest level, Mushfiqur has not lost his appetite for run making. He was at his imperious best in the one day series at home against Sri Lanka, a picture of consistency with the highlight being 125 in the second match who helped his side secure a winning 2-0 lead in the three match series. What made his feat even more notable was that it was Bangladesh’s first ever ODI series triumph against the 1996 World Cup champions. To shore up the middle order and don the wicket- keeping gloves speaks volumes of his fitness and skills,” he said.
Fans can continue to vote for their favorite male and female cricketers across all formats of international cricket as part of the ICC Player of the Month initiative by registering on the www.icc-cricket.com website.
