Proteas duo Marizanne Kapp and Nadine de Klerk were nominated for the newly-introduced player of the month awards by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The ICC on Wednesday announced the introduction of the monthly awards, which will "recognise and celebrate the best performances of both male and female cricketers across all forms" throughout the year.

An independent ICC Voting Academy comprising of former players, broadcasters, and journalists from around the world, will team up with fans to vote for the ICC Men's and Women's Player of the Month.

Despite the Proteas women only returning to international cricket last week, Kapp and De Klerk were shortlisted for the inaugural honour.

The all-rounder pair both featured in last year's Women's Big Bash League as the coronavirus outbreak halted the women's game in 2020.

Kapp starred with bat and ball in last week's second ODI against Pakistan as she scored an unbeaten 68 and took 3/44 in South Africa's Black Day win.

De Klerk, who caught the eye of many at last year's T20 World Cup in Australia, hasn't fired in her international return this month as she picked up one wicket in her two games thus far.

The Proteas duo were rested in the final ODI on Tuesday but are expected to feature in the three-match T20 series starting on Friday (15:30).

Pakistan all-rounder Nida Dar joins Kapp and De Klerk in the women's category.

England skipper Joe Root, Australian batsman Steve Smith and India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin headline the men's candidates for the month.

With a host of Indian players like wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, T. Natarajan and Afghanistan's Rahmanullah Gurbaz also nominated.

"The ICC Player of the Month is a great way to connect with fans of the sport and celebrate performances of their favourite players through the year. It gives us all an opportunity to acknowledge world class performances on the field by male and female cricketers and they have been in abundance throughout January," said ICC General Manager Geoff Allardice.

Details of nomination and voting process:

The three nominees for each of the categories will be determined by the ICC Awards Nominations Committee based on on-field performances and overall achievements during the period of that month (the first to the last day of each calendar month).

This shortlist is then voted for by the independent ICC Voting Academy and fans around the world.

The Voting Academy will submit their votes by email and will retain a 90% share of the vote. Subsequently, on the 1st day of each month, fans registered with the ICC will be able to submit votes via the ICC website and will have a 10% share of the vote.

Winners will be announced every second Monday of the month on the ICC's digital channels.

- Compiled by Sport24 staff

Source: News24