ICC announces Player of the Month nominees for September 2024; Travis Head, Tammy Beaumont included

International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday (7th October) nominated three players for the Men's Player of the Month award for September 2024. Australia's Travis Head, Sri Lanka's Prabath Jayasuriya, and Kamindu Mendis are three players who are in line to win the award.

Australia National Cricket Team batter Travis Head was at his best in the T20I series against Scotland and England along with the five-match ODI series against the Three Lions. He first displayed a sensational effort in the 5 20-over games against both teams.

Travis Head strong candidate to win ICC Player of the Month

Travis Head scored 182 runs at a strike rate of 245.94. This included a 23-ball 59 against England and a record-breaking 25-ball 80 against Scotland. Thanks to his effort, Australia posted 113 runs in the Powerplay overs, which is the highest Powerplay total ever registered by a full-member nation in a T20I.

However, Travis Head didn't stop there as he came up with ever better performance in the ODI series. He contributed immensely to his team both with bat and ball and was awarded the Player of the Series as he helped the team win the series by the margin of 3-2.

Travis Head ended the series with 248 runs at an average of 82.66 in the four games that he played in the series. He had a strike rate of 120.97 and also picked up six wickets. His best with the ball came in the last game, as he bagged 4/28 to help Australia win the series.

Prabath Jayasuriya and Kamindu Mendis other two nominees for the ICC Player of the Month award

Prabath Jayasuriya was no mug with his bowling performance in September. He continued his golden touch in Test cricket and produced a staggering performance for his team with the ball in the team’s series win over the New Zealand National Cricket Team at home.

Jayasuriya picked 18 wickets in the two-match Test series, including two fifers, and made a mockery of the New Zealand batters. The spinner was one of the major reasons behind the team winning the Test series against the Kiwis and bagging important ICC World Test Championship points under their kitty.

Overall, he picked 21 wickets at 27.90 in three Tests, including the second Test in England. He also became the fastest Sri Lankan in history to reach 100 wickets in Test cricket, as he achieved the feat in just 16 matches.

Another Sri Lanka candidate who is in line to win the ICC Player of the Month is Kamidu Mendis. The left-hander has taken Test cricket by storm and is even getting compared to great Don Bradman because of the start that he had to his international cricket.

Kamindu Mendis played four Tests in September and he scored 451 runs at an average of 90.20. He helped his team win the third Test against England and, after that, played a massive role in the team's win over New Zealand back in Sri Lanka.

Mendis became the first men’s player in history to pass fifty in each of the first eight matches of his Test career. Not only this, he also became the fastest batter in 75 years to bring up 1000 Test runs as he achieved the feat in his 8th game.

ICC names nominees for the Women's Player of the Month

In terms of the ICC Women's Player of the Month, ICC nominated England's Tammy Beaumont for her heroics in the white-ball tour of Ireland. She scored 212 runs at an average of 106 to help England register a 2-1 series and, after that, slammed 67 runs in the T20Is as well.

The ICC also nominated Ireland's Aimee Maguire for her efforts with the ball. She picked 12 wickets from five white-ball contests against England with the best of 5/19.

UAE star Esha Ozha also is one of the candidates to win the ICC Women's Player of the Month. She came up with a stellar all-round performance and helped her team win the tri-series against Namibia and Zimbabwe. Ozha ended the series with a total of 209 runs at an average of 34.83 and eight wickets at an average of 14.50.