ICC Announces Player Of The Month For December 2023, Australian Players Dominate

The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the Player of The Month for December 2023. The three nominees for the honor were Taijul Islam from Bangladesh, Pat Cummins from Australia, and Glenn Phillips from New Zealand. However, they have selected Pat Cummins as the winner of the ICC Player of the Month for December 2023.

The Australian skipper had a blockbuster year in 2023 where he ended up winning the ICC World Test Championship in June, retained the Ashes in July, and then led his team to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup title in November. It’s almost fitting that Cummins caps off the year by clinching the ICC Men’s Player of the Month for December 2023.

Pat Cummins gets his hands on the ICC monthly honor for the first time in his career. As a result, the Aussie stronghold on the Player of the Month award continues as Travis Head emerged victorious in November. Travis Head was awarded for his performance in November during the ICC Cricket World Cup 20223. He scored a century in the finals against India. Pat Cummins got the award for his performance against Pakistan in the Test series.

In the first two matches of the three-match Test series at home against Pakistan, Pat Cummins wreaked havoc with the red-ball. He had a decent start as he picked up three wickets in the series opener in Perth where Australia won the match convincingly. However, in the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) Cummins unleashed himself and devoured the Pakistani batting order.

Pat Cummins’ Performance In Melbourne Led Australia To Regain Their Top Spot In The ICC Test Rankings

Pat Cummins took two fifers in the Melbourne Test against a spirited Pakistan who was looking to fight back after the loss in Perth. Defending 317 in the final innings, Pakistan were cruising to victory at 110/2 when Pat Cummins took the ball himself and removed the opposition skipper Shan Masood for 60. From there on, Australia took the driving seat in the game and Pat Cummins shut down any resistance shown from the Pakistan batters, bundling them out for just 237.

Pat Cummins spearheaded Australia’s domination with a five-fer in each innings (5/48 & 5/49) while reaching 250 Test wickets. Australia won the series taking an unassailable lead of 2-0 and then went on to whitewash Pakistan in Sydney. Cummins was given the Player of The Match award and Australia regained their No.1 spot in the ICC Test rankings.

It was a dream year for Pat Cummins and he proved his worth on all fronts. He was criticized heavily after Australia’s defeat in the Border-Gavaskar trophy and then also when England won the Manchester Test in the Ashes but then he silenced all the critics after capping his year with two ICC titles, the Ashes and now an ICC Player of The Month.

Australia is gearing up to face West Indies in a two-match Test series commencing on January 17 at the Adelaide Oval. They are currently on the top of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) points table and will be looking to further strengthen their position after the series against West Indies.