Photo Credit: Cricket West Indies
West Indies captain Hayley Matthews says she’s delighted to again win the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Women’s Player of the Month award. The talismanic allrounder was named as the winner for October. She led from the front with scintillating individual performances in West Indies’ T20 International Series in Australia.
New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra claimed his first ICC Men’s Player of the Month award thanks to a series of memorable knocks in the group stages of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.
Matthews claimed her second ICC Women’s Player of the Month award after starring in her side’s T20I series against defending world champions Australia. The top-ranked all-rounder in the MRF Tyres ICC Women’s T20I Player Rankings consistently thwarted the home side with power-hitting and key wickets on her way to the Player of the Series award.
Despite losing the first outing in North Sydney by eight wickets, skipper Matthews smashed an unbeaten 99 atop the order and also took the prized wicket of Alyssa Healy during Australia’s response. Matthews then followed this up with arguably her best performance – chasing a daunting 213 for victory, she blasted 132 not out in 64 balls (20 fours and five sixes) to secure an eye-catching victory after having also claimed the wickets of Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, and Annabel Sutherland during Australia’s innings.
The final fixture saw the skipper hit another half-century (79), to end the month with 310 runs in the series at an average of 155.
Matthews said,
“I’m very grateful to have received the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for October. I love pulling on the West Indies jersey. Every time I wear that maroon and gold, it definitely adds an extra layer where you can go out there and perform well, not only for yourself and for the team, but in knowing how much cricket means to the people of the Caribbean and how much it can bring people together.”
She added:
“It was pretty special going out there in Australia and being able to perform the way that I did, but knowing how many people’s faces I was able to put a smile on back home in the Caribbean, that’s what means the most to me.”
