ICC Player of the Month: Shakib, Marsh highlight July nominations

Three male and three female players made the shortlist for the best international performers for July.

Shakib contributed to all three formats of the game as Bangladesh won the series against Zimbabwe last month.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Sunday announced the July nominees for the ICC Player of the Month awards, instituted in January this year to recognise the best international performances across formats for male and female cricketers.

"The nominees for the monthly men's awards this time are Shakib Al Hasan (BAN), Mitchell Marsh (AUS), and Hayden Walsh Jr (WI) while Hayley Matthews (WI), Fatima Sana (PAK) and Stafanie Taylor (WI) figure in the women's shortlist," stated an official ICC release.

Shakib contributed to all three formats of the game as Bangladesh won the series against Zimbabwe last month.

He scored 96 unbeaten runs as Bangladesh defeated Zimbabwe by three wickets in the second ODI at the Harare Sports Club.

In the T20Is with the ball, Hasan took three wickets at an economy rate of seven leading his country to a series win against Zimbabwe.

Marsh played three ODIs and five T20Is against West Indies last month.  In the T20Is, he scored 219 runs with a strike rate of 152.08 and took 8 wickets with an economy rate of 6.76, making him the lead run-scorer and wicket-taker for Australia in the series.

Walsh Jr played three ODIs against Australia last month, where he took seven wickets with an economy rate of 4.14.

Walsh Jr was also the most impressive bowler in the T20I series against Australia where he picked up twelve wickets in five games at an average of 11.66, making him the leading wicket-taker for the West Indies in both the ODI and T20I series against Australia.

West Indies all-rounder Matthews scored her second ODI hundred and took two wickets with the ball as West Indies cruised to a dominant series-clinching eight-wicket win over Pakistan last month. Matthews was also named Player of the Series against Pakistan.

Sana was the leading wicket-taker for Pakistan in the ODI series against the West Indies, and also a joint-leader for her side in the T20I series between the sides.

Her maiden five-wicket haul helped Pakistan defeat West Indies by 22 runs via the DLS method in the fifth ODI of the series.

Taylor contributed with both bat and ball as the West Indies won both their ODI and T20I series against Pakistan in July.

In the four ODIs against Pakistan, Taylor scored 175 runs with a strike rate of 79.18 and took three wickets with an economy rate of 3.72. Taylor was also on top of the rankings for batters and all-rounders in the ICC Women's ODI Rankings earlier in July.