Photo courtesy: IANS
Young Dutch batting all-rounder Bas de Leede and two of England’s Ashes heroes, top order batter Zak Crawley and bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes, have each been nominated for the ICC’s Men’s Player of the Month award for July.
With a streak of standout batting performances, England opener Zak Crawley led his team in run scoring for the home team and provided the spark for England’s series comeback from the top of the order.
Even with the new ball, the right-hander led England in runs scored during the just finished Ashes series. He was particularly prolific during his innings in July, most notably his 189 (182) at Old Trafford.
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Returning to the team with a two-nil series deficit, Chris Woakes bowled brilliantly to collect significant wickets over the course of the remaining matches.
The 34-year-old pacer helped England to a 2-2 series tie by taking five wickets in the opening innings in Manchester, seven overall in the final Test, and one more with the bat at The Oval.
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Woakes went on to win the Ashes 2023 Player of the Series despite his short participation—he only played in three of the five Test matches.
In the winner-takes-all match against Scotland at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, the Netherlands’ De Leede completed the shortlist with a performance for the ages, earning them their first berth at the Cricket World Cup since 2011.
The 23-year-old batted for the Netherlands against Scotland in Bulawayo, scoring 123 runs while taking 5-52, giving the Men in Orange the victory on Net Run Rate over their rivals.
In the process, he joined Viv Richards, Paul Collingwood, Rohan Mustafa, and Amelia Kerr as the only other players to ever record the five-wicket/century double in ODI cricket.
-IANS
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