Second consecutive Player of the Month award highlights Gardner’s stellar UK tour

Callan Morse
Callan Morse Published August 16, 2023 at 2.00pm (AWST)

Ash Gardner's strong form whilst touring England and Ireland last month has received further recognition, with the Muruwari champion acknowledged as the International Cricket Council's Player of the Month for July.

The award, Gardner's second in consecutive months, makes makes her the first women's international player to receive the award on back-to-back occasions.

In receiving the award, she also becomes the only player in the women's international game to have received the monthly recognition four times since the ICC introduced the award in January, 2021.

Following the success which saw her win the June award, Gardner continued her rich vein of form into July, this time demonstrating her prowess in the game's white-ball formats.

Across eight ODI and T20I fixtures against England and Ireland, the all-rounder churned out 232 runs with the bat whilst snaring 15 wickets with the ball during the calendar month.

In the earlier part of the month as her team pursued another Ashes triumph, Gardner provided valuable runs in the middle order to frustrate the hosts while also enjoying plenty of wicket-taking success.

Her best performance against England came in the final match of the multi-format Ashes series, where she scored 41 whilst also taking 3-39.

She was at her destructive best with the white ball in hand, taking three wickets in each of the three ODIs that formed part of the series.

Gardner then backed up her form in Australia's three-match ODI series against Ireland, scoring 65 in the opening match before taking three wickets in Australia's series-clinching victory just days later.

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Honoured in being the first player to receive back-to-back awards, Gardner said she was pleased with both the success of the team and her personal performance throughout the six-week tour.

"It's been a really hectic time over with the Women's Ashes and the tour of Ireland and I'm really pleased with what the Australian team has achieved," Gardner said.

"From a personal perspective it's also been pleasing I've been able to put in a some really consistent performances with bat and ball over that period.

"As the Ashes showed the standard of women's cricket is continually rising and the game is throwing up a lot of challenges.

"So, it is really nice to be rewarded for all the hard work we put in to meet the strong oppositions we're now facing."

The 26-year old, who is the number two ranked all-rounder on the ICC Women's ODI player rankings said said she was looking forward to future challenges against touring sides and in the WBBL during the upcoming Australian season.

"I'm really looking forward to the coming summer with the West Indies and South Africa touring as well as linking back up with Sydney Sixers in the WBBL," she said.

Australia will face the West Indies in home three-match T20I and ODI series' throughout October, before welcoming South Africa in the new year for three T20's, three ODI's and a standalone Test during January and February.

Gardner's Player of the Month Award saw her overcome England allrounder Nat Sciver-Brunt and teammate Ellyse Perry, who were also shortlisted for their stellar performances in July.

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