ICC Women's Player of the Month shortlist for April 2025 unveiled
Hayley Matthews (West Indies)
West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews shone with both bat and ball to keep West Indies in the hunt for a Cricket World Cup spot until the very last game of the Qualifier.
The swashbuckling opener helped provide the Carribean side with aggressive starts – scoring 240 runs at a strike rate of 116.50, averaging 60.
Matthews was also influential with her spin bowling, closing the tournament with the most wickets - 13 at an average of 15.84.
In her side's opening game against Scotland, Matthews put in an inspirational effort to claim four wickets, followed by a sensational century.
In the final game against Thailand, as the West Indies were required to chase down 167 inside 10.1 overs, Matthews came out all guns blazing – amassing a quickfire 70 off 29. Her efforts, however, went in vain as the side missed out on qualification by an agonising Net Run Rate margin of 0.01.
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From 2007 until the end of Smith's tenure, South Africa did not lose a Test series away from home, including repeat series wins in England and Australia, the former of which got them to the No.1 rank as a Test side in 2012. Smith continued notching up the big runs, especially in the Test arena, wherein he averaged close to 45 in the final five years of his career. His output in limited overs remained consistent too, with a feisty 141 in a losing cause against England at the ICC Champions Trophy 2009 being his career best. Under Smith, South Africa regained the sharp edge, reminiscent of the earlier Proteas sides, while also managing historical feats. And in March 2014, having already given up the ODI leadership in 2011, at the age of just 33, Smith retired from international cricket after a home series against Australia. 8659 of his 9265 runs in Tests came when he captained, about 2000 more than the next best Allan Border. 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