Tammy Beaumont: England batter named women's T20 international cricketer of the year

Tammy Beaumont hit three 50s in nine T20s for England in 2021

England batter Tammy Beaumont has been named women's Twenty20 international cricketer of the year by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Opener Beaumont, 30, was voted top ahead of England team-mate Nat Sciver, Ireland's Gaby Lewis and India's Smriti Mandhana.

Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan was voted men's T20 international cricketer of the year.

"It's a huge privilege to win," said Beaumont.

"My T20 career has had its ups and downs and I don't think I've always been known for my T20 abilities, so this award gives me a huge amount of confidence."

Beaumont scored 303 runs in nine T20s in 2021, the most of any England batter and third most of any women's player.

She hit a sublime 97 off 79 balls in the first T20 against New Zealand at Chelmsford in September, also hitting 63 against the same opposition in Wellington in March and 59 against India at Hove in July, with England winning all three T20 series.

"As a team we had a great year in terms of results and it feels great to have contributed to team wins," she added.

"We've got a big year ahead in all formats - with the Ashes, the Women's World Cup and the Commonwealth Games, and I look forward to continuing to work hard alongside my team-mates to help us win as many games as possible."

Beaumont hit 30 off 24 balls in the opening T20 defeat by Australia in the Women's Ashes, before the next two games were abandoned because of rain, leaving England 4-2 down in the multi-format series, with one Test match and three one-day internationals to come.

Rizwan was voted ahead of England's Jos Buttler, Sri Lanka's Wanindu Hasaranga and Australia's Mitch Marsh.

He hit 1,326 runs in 29 T20s in 2021 at a stunning average of 73.66, also making his maiden T20 century with an unbeaten 104 against South Africa in Lahore in February.

Rizwan was a key figure behind the stumps and with the bat as Pakistan reached the semi-finals of the Men's T20 World Cup, ending the tournament as the third highest run-scorer.

"I had an exceptional year in the shortest format of the game, and I am thankful to all my colleagues and peers for voting for me," he said.

"This award gives me further motivation and incentive to do even better in 2022 and beyond for Pakistan so that we can collectively achieve our objective of being the top T20 side."