Matthews will not soon forget ICC T20 Player of the Year award
WEST INDIES captain Hayley Matthews says being awarded the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year award is something she will not soon forget.
According to Matthews, who was announced the winner yesterday after the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced its first set of award winners, the year 2023 was ‘blessed’ for her and she was happy her performances were able to help her team.
“I’ve been pretty blessed to have a good year wearing the West Indies colours, performing really well and helping the team,” Matthews said.
According to the all-rounder, her motivation stems from having fans at home seeking inspiration from a successful West Indies.
“This is one of those awards that I’m going to cherish forever, and knowing that it can make our West Indies fans home in the Caribbean and around the world happy is what motivates me to go out there and do my best.”
The ICC, beginning yesterday, celebrated winners of their awards with India’s explosive batter Suryakumar Yadav winning his second successive ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year title.
Along with those results, the ICC announced New Zealand allrounder Rachin Ravindra as the ICC Emerging Men’s Cricketer of the Year, Australia opener Phoebe Litchfield as the ICC Emerging Women’s Cricketer of the Year, Netherlands all-rounder Bas de Leede as ICC Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Year, and Kenya captain Queentor Abel as ICC Women’s Associate Cricketer of the Year.
Seven more awardees are expected to be announced today.
The 13 award winners were crowned following a voting period that combined votes from the ICC Voting Academy and global fans.
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Matthews topped the run-scoring charts for the year, registering 700 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 132.32. She celebrated scores of 99 not out, 132, and 79 while taking five wickets with her off-spin bowling in a T20I series in Australia that saw her win Player of the Match awards in all three T20Is against the world champions.
Significantly, she had a run of eight consecutive Player of the Match awards, having also won all three in a preceding series in Ireland and two in ICC Women’s T20 World Cup matchups in South Africa against Ireland and Pakistan.
The formerly top-ranked allrounder in the format, who had close competition from Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu (470 runs and eight wickets) with Australia all-rounder Ellyse Perry and England spinner Sophie Ecclestone the others in the running, described the moment as “special”, having always hoped to emulate her idols.
An effective off-spinner, Matthews grabbed 19 wickets last year at an average of 16.
Earlier this week, she was also named in the ICC T20I Team of the Year.