Ash Gardner has joined teammates Ellyse Perry and Phoebe Litchfield as the latest Australian women's cricket star to feature on the ICC awards shortlist.
The brilliant spinning allrounder has been rewarded for her stellar 2023 campaign by being named on Thursday on the governing body's shortlist for Women's One-Day International Player of the Year.
It follows Wednesday's announcements of Perry being nominated for the equivalent T20 international award and Litchfield being shortlisted for the emerging player accolade.
Gardner has tough international competition for the award with her fellow nominees, chosen by a panel of experts, being England allrounder Nat Sciver-Brunt, who won last year's ODI award, Sri Lanka's inspirational captain Chamari Athapaththu and New Zealand allrounder Amelia Kerr.
The 26-year-old Bankstown ace Gardner, who was part of Australia's T20 World Cup-winning outfit, enjoyed a superb 2023 campaign with both bat and ball in ODIs, taking 24 wickets, scoring 188 runs in seven innings and taking six catches in her 13 matches.
She shone in the ODI matches during the Ashes, picking up three wickets in each of the three matches and scoring 95 runs.
Her innings of 33 and three wickets were key in earning the three-run win over England in the second game at Southampton that ensured the retention of the Ashes.
She also earned the player of the series award in Ireland, won an unprecedented three ICC player of the month awards during the calendar year, and concluded the year as the highest wicket-taker in women's ODIs.
But no Australians have been shortlisted for the equivalent men's award despite the national team's World Cup triumph in India.
Instead, the four nominees for the accolade include a trio of Indian stars from their home tournament - Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, who scored six ODI centuries over the 12 months, and strike bowler Mohammed Shami - as well as New Zealand batter Daryl Mitchell, who scored 1204 runs for the Blackcaps in 2023.
