ICC Player Of The Month: Joe Root And Eimear Richardson Voted As Winners For August

England Test skipper Joe Root and Ireland all-rounder Eimear Richardson have been voted as the ICC Player of the Month for August in the Men and Women’s category respectively as mentioned in a release posted on the official website of the international governing body.

Root amassed 507 runs in the first three Test matches against India in the month of August. He slammed three important centuries in as many games with his spectacular and unbeaten 180 at Lord’s went in vain as England lost the match to India.

I was really impressed with how he led England from the front: JP Duminy

But Root’s astounding performance grabbed him the player of the month award. Former South Africa all-rounder JP Duminy, who is also one of the panellists in the ICC Voting Academy, was impressed with the England captain’s efforts with the bat.

“With the expectation and responsibility on his shoulders as the captain, I was really impressed with how he led from the front with the bat, and become the number one ranked Test batter in the world,” Duminy said. 

To be voted as the winner of ICC Women’s Player of the Month is just so amazing and humbling: Eimear Richardson 

Dublin-born Richardson saw a neck and neck competition from her teammate Gaby Lewis and Thailand’s Nattaya Boochatham. Richardson scored 53 against Netherlands women in her last innings and has scored 76 runs and picked seven wickets in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier in August to bag the award.

“It was very exciting to be nominated for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for August and to now be voted as the winner is just so amazing and humbling,” Richardson said.

“It was great to contribute to overall team performances at the European Qualifiers and hopefully we have done enough to make the next stage and compete on a global level again,” she added. 

Her performances were lauded by Pommie Mbangwa of the ICC Voting Academy.

Former Zimbabwe cricketer Pommie Mbangwa, who is also part of the CC Voting Academy, credited Richardson for her contributions to Ireland women’s team and also noted her consistency.

“What an amazing and important contribution in a tournament that is important to all the teams.  What any team wants is for players to stand up at critical times and Eimear’s contributions with bat and ball have come at the right time, been consistent and particularly significant,” Mbangwa said. 

Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and West Indies women’s team captain Stafanie Taylor were the winners of the ICC Player of the Month in July.

Also Read: ICC Men’s And Women’s Player Of The Month Nominations For August Announced