Mitchell Starc claims maiden Allan Border medal, Ashleigh Gardner wins Belinda Clarke award
India Today
Mitchell Starc claimed his maiden Allan Border medal in the Cricket Australia awards on Saturday, while Ashleigh Gardner won the Belinda Clarke award.
The Cricket Australia (CA) Awards were announced on Saturday as Mitchell Starc won his maiden Allan Border medal while Ashleigh Gardner became the first indigenous person to grab the Belinda Clarke award.
Starc was honoured for his strong performance in all three formats of the game - he took 43 wickets in the 12-month period. He is only the fifth bowler in 22 years to win the award, edging out Mitchell Marsh by one vote. The awards were decided by a voting process for the period 2021-22.
It was a double celebration for Starc as he also won the men’s ODI player of the year award. He joins Pat Cummins, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath as the only fast bowlers to win the top award since its inception in 2000.
Gardner was Australia’s third-highest run-scorer and fifth-highest wicket-taker in the last 12 months. She scored 281 runs at an average of 35.10 - including four half-centuries - and claimed nine wickets. She received 54 votes to win the Belinda Clark award, ahead of Beth Mooney (47) and Alyssa Healy (39).
Star wicketkeeper-batter Alyssa Healy won the women’s ODI player of the year award for the third time.
Marsh, who was the star of the T20 World Cup final last year, was named the men’s T20 player of the year after a tremendous 12 months. He received 53 votes, ahead of pacer Josh Hazlewood (29) and spinner Ashton Agar (26).
Beth Mooney won her second successive women’s T20 Player of the Year award. With 13 votes, she finished ahead of Tahlia McGrath (10) and Gardner (6). Batter Travis Head bagged the Test Player of the Year award courtesy a brilliant Ashes campaign that included two match-winning centuries.
