Allan Border, Belinda Clark Medals up for grabs

Fresh off being named the ICC's Cricketer of the Year for 2023, Pat Cummins has the opportunity to crown a career-defining 12 months with a second Allan Border Medal this week. 

The Australian Cricket Awards will be held Wednesday night at Melbourne's Crown Casino, broadcast live on Seven, Foxtel and Kayo, where the top individual prizes in the game for Australia's cricketers will be handed out. 

After a hectic 12 months for the men that takes in a Border-Gavaskar series in India, the World Test Championship final, an Ashes series in the UK, the ODI World Cup as well as the home summer, Cummins looms as a frontrunner for what would be his second Allan Border Medal. 

This year's Belinda Clark Award, the top individual prize for the nation's female cricketers, appears a wide-open race, with many of Australia's stars standing up at various points during a packed year of action.

The voting period – 22 January 2023 to 9 January 2024 for the top men's and women's international awards – takes in the women's home T20s against Pakistan, the T20 World Cup in South Africa, the multi-format Ashes, Ireland ODIs, the home T20I and ODI series against West Indies and the all-format tour of India. 

Ashleigh Gardner is a front runner after she took more wickets across the calendar year than any woman before her: 56 of them in total. It was a year that included her famous 12-wicket haul at Trent Bridge, while the allrounder was also the T20 World Cup player of the tournament.

The Australian Cricket Awards

Allan Border Medal

 

Belinda Clark Award

 

Shane Warne Men's Test Player of the Year

 

Men's One-Day International Player of the Year

 

Women's T20I Player of the Year

 

Men's T20I Player of the Year

 

Women's One-Day International Player of the Year

 

KFC BBL Player of the Tournament 

 

Men's Domestic Cricketer of the Year

 

Women's Domestic Cricketer of the Year

 

Bradman male Young Cricketer of the Year 

 

Betty Wilson female Young Cricketer of the Year 

 

Votes are weighted to decide the Allan Border Medal winner – with votes polled in Test matches worth twice those from ODI fixtures, and three times the T20I votes – to reflect the primacy of the long-form game while also recognising performances across all formats.

Usman Khawaja appears a favourite to win the Shane Warne Men's Test Player of the Year award for his 1,062 runs at 42.48 with six fifties and two hundreds across 13 Tests. 

That's 195 runs more than nearest rival Steve Smith, while Travis Head's 859 runs at 39.05 came at a strike rate of 72.43. 

Nathan Lyon was Australia's most potent wicket-taker in Test cricket with 49 at 23.73, while conceding just 3.06 runs per over, and would have undoubtedly had more if he'd not blown up his calf at Lord's in the second Ashes Test. Cummins claimed 44 wickets in his 11 Tests, with four five-wicket hauls. 

In men's ODIs, David Warner had another excellent year, with 925 runs in 20 games, while Mitch Marsh hit 858 in the same number of matches, at a slightly quicker strike rate. 

Head again can expect to feature prominently in the voting, with 570 runs in only 13 matches, with a strike rate of 133.18 second only to Glenn Maxwell's 145.94 which was memorably capped by his 201no against Afghanistan during the World Cup run.

In women's ODIs, Phoebe Litchfield's breakout first year could see the left-hander rewarded with her first award. The 20-year-old scored her first century against Ireland in July and finished the year with a record-breaking series against India which saw her score 78, 63 and 119.

Ellyse Perry was Australia's top scorer in ODIs for the year with five half-centuries including her 91 at Southampton that was critical in ensuring the Aussies retained the Ashes. 

Gardner's star with ball in hand continued to rise, with the off-spinner taking 20 wickets. Her opportunities with the bat were less abundant, but she did hit one fifty. 

And don't discount dark horse Georgia Wareham. She picked up 17 wickets while also enhancing her reputation as a lower-order finisher; her 37 in Southampton was the difference between keeping the Ashes or going down empty handed. 

Beth Mooney is a strong chance to pick up her third T20 player of the year award after her heroics at the T20 World Cup, where she hit half-centuries in the semi-final and final. 

Gardner is another contender after taking 19 wickets in a voting period that saw her named the T20 World Cup player of the tournament. 

Perry would have featured regularly in the votes in her best year yet with the bat in T20s that saw her score at a strike rate of 148, while Megan Schutt and Darcie Brown were regular contributors with the ball. 

In a men's ODI World Cup year there were only a handful of T20Is in the voting period. Mitchell Marsh was in blistering form against the South Africans last August, and Maxwell hit an unbeaten century in Guwahati in one of two appearances in the format during the year. 

Head was the top scorer in the format with 209 runs in six games, striking at 174.17, while Josh Inglis also impressed with a ton against India, but his other five games yielded 57 runs. 

Tanveer Sangha claimed 10 wickets in seven appearances, while Sean Abbott had nine in five games and the ever-reliable Jason Behrendorff claimed eight with an economy of just 6.60. 

The domestic and young cricketers of the year are set to be announced before the broadcast ceremony, and could see Cameron Bancroft rewarded for his prolific form with the bat, while South Australia pair Nathan McAndrew and Wes Agar have been the top bowlers with 67 and 59 wickets respectively in the eligibility period.