South Africa’s captain Laura Wolvaardt has been awarded the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for December, following a sensational month in which she spearheaded her team to series victories against Ireland in both T20I and ODI formats. Building on a stellar ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 campaign, Wolvaardt rounded off the year with a remarkable sequence of performances, including three centuries across formats in a single month.Wolvaardt set the tone in the opening T20I with a breathtaking unbeaten 115, striking at an extraordinary rate of 205.35. Her innings featured 15 boundaries and four sixes, setting the foundation for South Africa’s dominance. The momentum carried into the ODI series, where she opened the batting and played a pivotal role in the whitewash. After scoring 31 in the first ODI, she returned with back-to-back centuries: 124 off 111 balls in the second ODI and an unbeaten 100 in the final match.
Across the three ODIs, Wolvaardt accumulated 255 runs at an average of 127.50, maintaining a strike rate of 111.84. In the T20I series, she scored 137 runs at a strike rate of 190.27, being dismissed just once.This marks Wolvaardt’s second Player of the Month award in three months, having previously won the accolade in October 2025. Reflecting on the honour, she said, “I’m delighted to be named the ICC Player of the Month once again. To win it two times in three months is very special and something I’ll cherish for a long time. I loved batting throughout Ireland’s tour of South Africa, and it was hugely rewarding to contribute with runs across both the ODI and T20I formats.”Looking ahead, Wolvaardt is focused on the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026. “My focus is firmly on carrying this momentum forward. We’ve shown real progress in recent ICC events, and I’m excited about the summer ahead in England and Wales. I hope to continue playing my part and help take the team all the way,” she added.Wolvaardt edged out teammate Sune Luus, who scored 323 runs and picked up eight wickets across formats, and November winner Shafali Verma, who amassed 241 runs in five T20Is for India, to claim this latest honour.
