The first of the men’s nominees is England batsman Jonny Bairstow, who scored 394 runs across three Test matches against New Zealand, including the second fastest century for an English batter in Tests, when he hit 138 in the second match in Nottingham.

In the final Test he scored the second fastest 150 by an English batter, with his innings across the two matches helping to set up a whitewash series win.

The second nominee is New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell, who scored 538 runs at an average of 107.60 in the same series, scoring a century in each Test.

The final nominee is England batter Joe Root, who scored 396 runs at an average of 99, with centuries in two Test matches seeing him pass the milestone of 10,000 Test runs.

The first of the women’s nominees is South Africa’s Shabnim Ismail, who took 11 wickets at an average of 5.00 across three one-day international matches against Ireland.

Ismail’s team mate Marizanne Kapp is the second of the nominees after scoring 150 not out in the one-off Women’s Test against England, a score that set a national record for the highest Test score by a South African female player, and helped her side claim a draw.

The final women’s nominee is England’s Nat Sciver, who scored 169 in the first innings, which may have set up an England win in the Test against South Africa, but for rain.

A voting panel made up of journalists, former players, broadcasters and members of the ICC Hall of Fame hold a 90 per cent share of the vote, with the remaining 10 per cent through public votes.

The winners are set to be announced next week, with voting closing on Saturday (July 9).