India's Smriti Mandhana among nominees for ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year award

The ICC Awards 2021 will recognise the outstanding achievements and feats in cricket over the past year

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday announced England cricketer Tammy Beaumont, South African batter Lizelle Lee, Indian opener Smriti Mandhana and Ireland’s Gaby Lewis as the four nominees for the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year.

The ICC Awards 2021 will recognise the outstanding achievements and feats in cricket over the past year.

Beaumont and Nat Sciver, Mandhana and Lewis were also the four nominees for the ICC Women’s T20I Player of the Year.

Despite India enduring a difficult 2021, Mandhana’s stock continued to rise this year.

In the limited-overs series against South Africa where India won just two of the eight matches at home, Mandhana played a major role in both of the wins. She scored an unbeaten 80 as India chased down 158 in the second ODI that helped them level the series and scored 48 not out in the win in the final T20I.

Mandhana also became the first Indian to score a century in a pink-ball women’s Test when she made 127 against Australia at Carrara, Queensland.

With 872 runs, England’s Tammy Beaumont finished as the highest run-getter in the calendar year.

Beaumont enjoyed a great start to the year, with three half-centuries in three ODIs against New Zealand away from home. She carried her form over to the T20I leg of the tour where she finished as the highest run-scorer in England’s 3-0 whitewash.

For South Africa, Lizelle Lee was in sensational white-ball form throughout the year, particularly in the ODIs where she finished as the highest run-getter in 2021 with 632 runs in 11 matches as well as the top-ranked Women’s ODI batter in the ICC Rankings.

Gaby Lewis had a memorable start to 2021, bagging two Player of the Match awards in Ireland’s 3-1 T20I series win over Scotland at home. In both games, she came within touching distance of a fifty, missing out by three runs and one run in the second and fourth match respectively.

Lewis made history at ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier in August when she became the first Irish woman to score a T20I century. The knock of 105 not out came of just 60 balls against Germany.