The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the Player of the Month for December 2023. The three nominees for the honor were Bangladesh’s Taijul Islam, Australia’s Pat Cummins and New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips. However, they have selected Pat Cummins as the winner of the ICC Player of the Month for December 2023.
The Australian captain had a successful year in 2023, where he ended up winning the ICC World Test Championship in June, retained the Ashes in July and then led his team to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup title in November. It’s almost fitting that Cummins closes out the year by clinching the ICC Men’s Player of the Month award in December 2023.
Pat Cummins earns the ICC monthly honor for the first time in his career. As a result, Australia’s strength in the Player of the Month award continues, with Travis Head emerging victorious in November. Travis Head was awarded for his performance in November during the ICC Cricket World Cup 20223. He scored a century in the final against India. Pat Cummins received the award for his performance against Pakistan in the Test series.
In the first two matches of the three-match Test series at home against Pakistan, Pat Cummins wreaked havoc with the red ball. He got off to a decent start by taking three wickets in the series opener in Perth, where Australia won the match convincingly. However, in the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Cummins went on a rampage and devoured the Pakistani batting order.
Pat Cummins’ performance in Melbourne led Australia to regain its top spot in the ICC Test Rankings
Pat Cummins won two fifes in the Melbourne Test against a spirited Pakistan looking to hit back after the defeat in Perth. Defending 317 in the last innings, Pakistan were marching towards victory at 110/2 when Pat Cummins took the ball himself and removed rival captain Shan Masood for 60. From there, Australia took control of the game and Pat Cummins sealed it. any resistance shown by Pakistan’s batsmen, bowling them out for just 237.
Pat Cummins led Australia’s dominance with five fers in each innings (5/48 and 5/49) and reached 250 Test wickets. Australia won the series with an unassailable 2-0 lead and then beat Pakistan in Sydney. Cummins received the Man of the Match award and Australia regained its number one spot in the ICC Test rankings.
It was a dream year for Pat Cummins and he proved himself on all fronts. He was heavily criticized after Australia’s defeat in the Border-Gavaskar trophy and then also when England won the Manchester Test in the Ashes, but then silenced all critics after capping off his year with two ICC titles, the Ashes and now a ICC Player of The Month.
Australia is preparing to face the West Indies in a two-match Test series starting on January 17 at the Adelaide Oval. They currently sit at the top of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) points table and will look to further strengthen their position after the series against the West Indies.
