The International Cricket Council (ICC) earlier today announced the Players of the Month for July 2024 as England’s Gus Atkinson and Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu.
Atkinson had an amazing start to his international career in the Test format. During the 3-match Test series against West Indies, the Englishman announced himself to the world by taking a total of 22 wickets throughout the series.
He also ended up taking the Player of the Series award home before being labelled as a potential replacement for legendary England pacer, James Anderson who announced his retirement from all forms of cricket after the first Test against west Indies concluded.
On the other hand, Athapaththu was once again an integral part of Sri Lanka’s success in July as she led the side from the front with dominant batting displays. Her impressive performances saw the Sri Lankan women’s team win their first-ever Women’s Asia Cup by defeating India in the final.
The skipper hit 304 runs during the competition at an average of 101.33 and a brilliant strike rate of 146.85. She also played an incredible unbeaten knock of 119 breaking the record for the highest individual in Asia Cup. Her innings in the final match was also nothing short of amazing as her knock of 61 was crucial to Sri Lanka achieving the target of 166 in Dambulla.
