Hayden Walsh Jr starred as the West Indies hosted Australia in St. Lucia ©Getty Images

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced three male and three female nominees from four different countries for the July nominees for the ICC Player of the Month awards.

The award recognises the best international performances across multiple formats for male and female cricketers.

The men's nominees are Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh, Australian Mitchell Marsh and Hayden Walsh Jr from the West Indies.

Walsh Jr looks to be the favourite after his phenomenal performances against Australia in three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and a Twenty20 (T20) series comprising of five games.

The 29-year-old took seven wickets with an economy rate of 4.14 in the ODIs, as well as 12 wickets at an average of 11.66.

Meanwhile, West Indies pair Hayley Matthews and Stafanie Taylor, Pakistani Fatima Sana figure in the women’s shortlist.

West Indies captain Taylor is tipped for the award after she contributed with both bat and ball as her team won both ODI and T20 series against Pakistan in July.

The West Indies' captain Stafanie Taylor also plays for the Southern Brave in The Hundred ©Getty Images
The West Indies' captain Stafanie Taylor also plays for the Southern Brave in The Hundred ©Getty Images

In the four ODIs against Pakistan, Taylor scored 175 runs with a strike rate of 79.18.

She took three wickets with an economy rate of 3.72.

She was also top of the batters and all-rounders rankings in the ICC women’s ODI rankings earlier in July.

An independent ICC Voting Academy and fans around the world can vote to decide the winners, which will be announced next week.

India has taken half of the men's awards this year, with Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin and Buvneshwar Kumar winning the January, February and March accolades.

Pakistani batsman Babar Azam, Bangladesh's Mushfiqur Rahim and Devon Conway of New Zealand were awarded the remaining three.

The women's winners are spread between South Africans Shabnim Ismail and Lizelle Lee, Tammy Beaumont and Sophie Ecclestone from England, Australian Alyssa Healy and Scot Kathryn Bryce.

The award was first introduced in January 2021.