Mitchell Starc won the Allan Border medal for the first time in his career as he pipped Mitchell Marsh by one vote while Ashleigh Gardner won the Belinda Clarke medal for the women’s team.
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The Cricket Australia Awards are a culmination of the team’s wonderful performances of the players in 2021. The Allan Border Medal for the men and Belinda Clarke medal for the women are the pinnacles of the cricket season for any player. The year 2021 has been special for Australia as they won the ICC World T20 2021 and the Ashes in grand style. It all boiled down to who would win it in the men. Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Marsh were the two contenders. In the end, by a margin of just one vote, Mitchell Starc won the Allan Border medal for the first time in his career.
Starc was named the ODI player of the year. The left-armer became the fifth pace bowler after Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, and Pat Cummins to win the Allan Border medal. For Mitchell Marsh, he was rewarded the Australia T20 player of the year. It was Marsh’s amazing knock in the final of the ICC World T20 2021 that helped Australia win the title for the first time.
Read – Will Stick To My Strengths: Mitchell Starc
Starc had a bad start to the year, having performed poorly against India. However, in the Ashes, he was in fine form. He took a total of 19 wickets in five Tests at an average of 25.36. Overall, Starc took 43 wickets in the calendar year. It is the best combined by any Australian bowler in the year 2021.
Travis Head, who was one of the stars of the Ashes campaign with two centuries in Brisbane and Hobart, was awarded the Test player of the year. For his exploits for South Australia in the Sheffield Shield, he was voted as the Australia Domestic Player of the Year. Apart from this, Justin Langer was inducted into the Australian Hall of Fame. He was inducted along with Raelee Thompson, the former women’s cricket team captain. She is one of the pioneers of women’s cricket in Australia.
The Australian women’s cricket team also secured great rewards for their dominance. The team won a total of 26 consecutive ODIs. They have remained unbeaten in a Twenty20 International series for a couple of years. Ashleigh Gardner won the Belinda Clarke award for her consistency across formats. In the year 2021, Gardner smashed 281 runs at an average of 35 and she also took nine wickets.
Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney won the Female ODI and Twenty20 International Player of the Year Award.
| Allan Border Medal Winner | Mitchell Starc |
| Belinda Clarke Medal Winner | Ashleigh Gardner |
| Male Test Player of the Year Award | Travis Head |
| Male ODI Player of the Year Award | Mitchell Starc |
| Male T20I Player of the Year Award | Mitchell Marsh |
| Female ODI Player of the Year Award | Alyssa Healy |
| FemaleT20I Player of the Year Award | Beth Mooney |
| Male Domestic Player of the Year Award | Travis Head |
| Female Domestic Player of the Year Award | Ellyse Villani |
