ICC Awards 2023: First set of nominees announced, unveiling T20I and Emerging contenders

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the first four shortlists in the ICC Awards 2023, highlighting the outstanding performers in contention for the Men’s and Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year Awards, and the Emerging Men’s and Women’s Cricketer of the Year Awards.

A thrilling year of competition in the shortest format sees eight different nations among the nominations for the T20I categories, highlighting the vast spread of talent across the global game.

In the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year category, India’s Suryakumar Yadav stands in contention to win his second successive prize, after being crowned in the same category back in 2022. This year, the top-ranked T20I batter lines up against New Zealand’s Mark Chapman, Uganda’s Alpesh Ramjani and Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza, after all enjoyed landmark years in the shortest format.

The ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year shortlist honours some of the biggest names in the women’s game. Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu was in sparkling form throughout the year, and is joined by England spin maestro Sophie Ecclestone, West Indies’ all-round icon Hayley Matthews, and the evergreen Ellyse Perry, a former two-time winner of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy for ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year (2019 and 2017).

Elsewhere, a wealth of exciting new talent emerged onto the world stage in 2023, providing us with memorable performances in pinnacle events such as last year’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

The ICC Emerging Women’s Cricketer of the Year category features four stellar up-and-coming talents in women’s cricket. Bangladesh’s Marufa Akter, England’s Lauren Bell, Scotland’s Darcey Carter and Australia’s Phoebe Litchfield are named as the four leading contenders for the crown after they enjoyed remarkable form in 2023.

Also revealed today is the shortlist for the ICC Emerging Men’s Cricketer of the Year - a hugely competitive field which boasts four ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup prodigies. Gerald Coetzee will aim to emulate last year’s winner, fellow Protea Marco Jansen to claim the 2023 award, where he comes up against India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sri Lanka’s Dilshan Madushanka and New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra.

Fans are now able to vote for their favourite T20I and Emerging players at www.icc-cricket.com, with other categories unlocked as further nominees are revealed by the ICC over the next two days.

Shortlists are being revealed in nine ICC Awards 2023 categories between January 3 and 5, and have been determined by a specialist panel of cricket writers and broadcasters, who selected the nominees according to on-field performances and overall achievements in international cricket through the calendar year.

Fan voting results will be combined with selections made by the ICC Voting Academy to identify the winner in each of the shortlisted categories.

Other categories which will be celebrated in the ICC Awards 2023 include the ICC Men’s and Women’s Associate Cricketers of the Year, the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award, and the ICC Umpire of the Year, making a total of 13 prizes.

In addition to the individual awards, five ICC Teams of the Year will be also decided by the ICC Voting Academy, identifying the standout XIs across men’s and women’s international cricket in 2023.

Winners of the ICC Awards 2023 will be announced later in January 2024.

ICC Awards 2023 – the shortlists revealed to date

ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year; Mark Chapman (New Zealand), Alpesh Ramjani (Uganda), Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe), Suryakumar Yadav (India)

ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year; Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka), Sophie Ecclestone (England), Hayley Matthews (West Indies), Ellyse Perry (Australia)

ICC Emerging Men’s Cricketer of the Year; Gerald Coetzee (South Africa), Yashasvi Jaiswal (India), Dilshan Madushanka (Sri Lanka), Rachin Ravindra (New Zealand)

ICC Emerging Women’s Cricketer of the Year; Marufa Akter (Bangladesh), Lauren Bell (England), Darcey Carter (Scotland), Phoebe Litchfield (Australia)