ICC Women's T20I Cricketer of the Year announced
West Indies captain Hayley Matthews becomes the ICC Women's T20I Cricketer of the Year for 2023.
Matthews became just the second player from the West Indies to win the honour.
Former skipper Stafanie Taylor was the previous cricketer to have won this award in 2015.
Matthews added to her reputation with some sensational knocks with the bat and her sharp work with the ball. Her very best came Down Under, where she stood out with both bat and ball.
Matthews said it was an honour to claim the award and was happy to be able she could emulate many of her cricketing heroes she looked up to when she was younger.
"I have been really blessed to have a pretty good year with West Indies wearing those colours, performing really well and helping the team," Matthews said.
"Growing up I saw many of my idols getting these type of awards a lot, so to be able to come out as a player with this award is special for me."
She overcame competition from Australia's Ellyse Perry, England's Sophie Ecclestone, and Sri Lanka's Chamari Athapaththu.
T20I record in 2023: 700 runs and 19 wickets in 14 matches
West Indies captain Hayley Matthews produced the match-winning performance in a tight encounter against Ireland at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023.
The No.1 ranked MRF Tyres ICC Women's T20I all-rounder put on a remarkable performance for the ages against Australia in a bilateral T20I series in the second half of the year.
Her stellar showing in the series saw her make scores of 99*, 132 and 79 as the West Indies skipper proved to be a thorn to the Australian side. Matthews’ extraordinary unbeaten 99 in the first game of the series was overshadowed by her mind-blowing 132 in a run-chase of 213 in Sydney.
The world-record run-chase in women's T20Is saw Matthews break several records including that of the highest individual score in a women’s T20I run-chase. Her overall tally of 310 runs in the series is the most by any player in a women's T20I bilateral series.
Matthews also had a good T20 World Cup, making 130 runs and taking four wickets and four catches. Overall, the all-rounder racked up 700 runs in the year, the most by any player in a year in Women's T20Is. She also picked up 19 wickets at an average of 16.21 in the year.
Memorable Performance
While Matthews had a stunning all-round game against Ireland where she picked up four wickets and made a 34-ball 48, her remarkable 132 against Australia overshadowed it all. Having taken 3/36 with the ball as Australia made a whopping 212, West Indies were faced with a daunting task in the run-chase.
Matthews raced to 29 off 16 balls in the Powerplay, but nothing could have prepared anyone for the second half of her innings. She hit two fours and a six in the 17th over of the run-chase to race to her century off just 53 balls, and then clubbed Jess Jonassen for four fours in a row in the 19th over to bring the equation down to eight runs needed off six balls.
While Matthews was dismissed in the over, she had set the stage for one of the most outrageous women's T20I wins of all-time with her blistering 132 off just 64 balls. The innings was studded with 20 fours and five sixes as 110 of her 132 runs came in boundaries.