Sri Lanka’s Kamindu Mendis and England’s Maia Bouchier have been named the Men’s and Women’s Player of the Month for March 2024, the International Cricket Council (ICC) revealed on Monday. The awards were revealed after the shortlists were announced last week.
Mendis overcame fellow standout performers in Tests, Ireland’s Mark Adair and New Zealand’s Matt Henry to claim the March award, while Bouchier wins from past winners Amelia Kerr of New Zealand and four-time Women’s Player of the Month, Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner.
Mendis claimed the ICC Men’s Player of the Month award after his historic efforts at the crease helped Sri Lanka comfortably win the first Test in their ICC World Test Championship showdown against Bangladesh in Sylhet.
Bouchier won the ICC Women’s Player of the Month prize for March 2024 thanks to a sparkling series of scores in New Zealand as the tourists secured a statement 4-1 T20I series win in March.
ICC Men’s Player of the Month Mendis may have made a quiet start to the month in the T20I series that opened Sri Lanka’s tour to Bangladesh, but he soon reversed his fortunes with a memorable performance in the first Test match in Sylhet, the ICC informed.
Striding out to the crease with the tourists at 57 for five, Mendis rescued Sri Lanka’s first innings alongside Dhananjaya de Silva, thwarting Bangladesh’s firing bowlers on his way to hitting a controlled 102 – his first Test century – to help them post a respectable opening total of 280.
March, Maia Bouchier, said, “First of all, thank you to everyone who voted for me. I am so happy and grateful to everyone: my family and partner and the staff and my teammates who have supported me whilst playing at the international level.
“I am so honoured to have won this award and I hope there are many more to come. It’s been such an amazing couple of months, from training through the winter with my coaches at home and transferring what I’ve been working on into this series, so I am