Two Sri Lankan stars nominated for ICC Player of The Month

Prabath Jayasuriya 

The International Cricket Council (ICC) yesterday named the shortlists for September’s ICC Player of the Month Awards, celebrating the outstanding individual performances that took place across a bumper month of action in international cricket.

The ICC Men’s Player of the Month candidates include three previous Player of the Month winners aiming to secure their second prize - two Sri Lankan Test stars and a multi-format maestro from Australia.

Travis Head aims to win his second ICC Men’s Player of the Month award after excelling with bat and ball in the shorter formats against Scotland and England in September. 

Joining him on the shortlist for the monthly award is Sri Lankan pair Prabath Jayasuriya and Kamindu Mendis. Jayasuriya shone with the spinning ball while Kamindu celebrated another set of landmarks with strong performances in their World Test Championship outings against England and New Zealand.

Another former winner of the Men’s Player of the Month award back in July 2022, Jayasuriya was a consistently threatening presence in the Sri Lankan bowling line-up during September.  He took three wickets in the second Test defeat against England, yet saved his best individual performance for the visit of New Zealand to Galle. 

He claimed the Player of the Match award for nine wickets in the first Test, which included a pivotal five-for in the second innings to hold off the Blackcaps’ charge and took another nine wickets in the second Test, highlighted by six for 42 in the first innings.

Meanwhile, Kamindu has made plenty of headlines in 2024 and continues his record-breaking form in the longest format after a landmark September which included 451 runs at an average of 90.20 in four Tests. 

A half century in the final Test victory over England preceded century scores of 114 and 182 not out respectively in the two Tests against New Zealand, making Kamindu the first player to pass fifty in each of his first eight Tests and the fastest batter in 75 years to reach 1,000 Test runs.  (ICC)