South Africa batter Keegan Petersen, England skipper Heather Knight win ICC Player of the Month for January

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday announced Heather Knight and Keegan Petersen as the winners of the ICC Players of the Month Award for January 2022.

Petersen pipped compatriot Dewald Brevis and Bangladesh fast bowler Ebadot Hossain to claim the ICC men’s player of the month award for January. Among women, Knight won the award. Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu and West Indies star Deandra Dottin were the other contenders.

Petersen played a pivotal role in South Africa’s 2-1 series win against India. In the second Test, he scored 62 in the first innings, helping the Proteas gain a slender lead, and in their chase of 240, he played a crucial 28-run knock. In the final Test, Petersen scored a fifty in each innings, including a superb 82 in a challenging fourth-innings chase of 212.

He ended the series as the highest run-scorer with 276 runs and was named the player of the series.

“With the hype of the series and the high expectations, the composure he showed while batting in a pivotal No. 3 position was simply staggering,” said former South Africa star and member of the voting panel JP Duminy.

Knight captained England in the drawn one-off Ashes Test against Australia in Canberra and finished as the highest run-getter. In the first innings, Knight rescued England, scoring an unbeaten 168. It was the second-highest score by a captain in the history of women’s Tests.

“168 is the highest Test score by any female English batter against Australia in Australia,” former India fast bowler Irfan Pathan, a member of the voting panel, said.

“It is also the second-highest score in women’s Tests in Australia. Her innings is made even more remarkable given its importance in securing the draw for England in the only Test.”