ALLROUNDERS have swept the top gongs at the 2024 Australian Cricket Awards, held at Crown Casino in Melbourne last night. Mitch Marsh capped off his career resurgence with a maiden Allan Border Medal, while Ash Gardner took home her second Belinda Clark Award.

>> SCROLL to see all the winners

Marsh won the top honour of Australian men’s cricket in a landslide, finishing 79 votes ahead of Test skipper Pat Cummins whom he thanked during a heartfelt acceptance speech. The 32-year-old is the first allrounder to take out the award since Shane Watson in 2011.

Having slotted back into the Test fold last year, Marsh was recognised for his three-format performances and also took out One-Day International Player of the Year honours. After playing an integral role in Australia’s unlikely ODI World Cup win, he was handed the captaincy in white ball formats.

Meanwhile, Gardner was adjudged Australia’s best women’s cricketer for the second time in three years, having first won the Belinda Clark Award in 2022. She finished 13 votes ahead of fellow allrounder Ellyse Perry having produced a string of match-winning performances in all formats.

Gardner’s match figures of 12-165 against England at Trent Bridge stand as the second-best in women’s Test history. The spinner thrived in all conditions during the voting period, taking 26 more wickets than any other Australian with 56 in 30 matches, at an average of 19.39.

Perry may have finished runner-up in the main event, but was recognised as the women’s ODI and T20I Player of the Year. Just 18 months after being dropped from the T20 side, a revamped batting approach saw her excel in Australia’s middle order across both white ball formats.

The champion allrounder lifter her strike rate and helped save several crucial matches for her side, including in the Ashes. She hit 91 in the ODI which ensured Australia’s retention of the urn, helping post 7-282 which was defended by just three runs.

Nathan Lyon was named the men’s Test Player of the Year having taken more wickets than any other teammate. The prolific offie missed three matches with a severe calf injury, but recently surpassed 500 Test wickets and was a lynchpin during his side’s tour of India, while being sorely missed in the Ashes.

Jason Behrendorff became the fourth consecutive West Australian representative to take out the men’s T20 Player of the Year. The economical seamer finished third on the overall wickets tally behind Sean Abbott and Tanveer Sangha, but blended both elements better than anyone.

Meanwhile on the domestic scene, there were dual-winners in the women’s Player of the Year. Elyse Villani and Sophie Day made it a batting and bowling combination having dominated their respective disciplines with the white ball.

Villani, who took out her third Domestic Player of the Year in four seasons, led Tasmania to a second-straight WNCL title in 2022/23. She hit 627 runs in the competition, including three centuries, and amassed 324 runs in the Hobart Hurricanes’ WBBL|09 campaign.

Day was a standout in the WBBL having been awarded the Golden Arm. The Melbourne Stars spinner took 27 wickets at an average of 12.48, while also taking a further 14 poles while representing Victoria in the One-Day Domestic format.

It was a bittersweet men’s Domestic Player of the Year title for Cameron Bancroft, who continues to be overlooked for Test squad selection. He currently leads the Sheffield Shield runs tally having hit 1636 runs across all formats over the last year.

The Young Player of the Year awards went to Victorian paceman Fergus O’Neill and South Australian batter Emma de Broughe. O’Neill established himself as part of Victoria’s potent attack with 50 wickets in 16 games across all formats, while recently making his BBL debut with the Renegades.

de Broughe, an opener, made more runs than anyone else eligible for the women’s award. She compiled 731 at an average of 43 during the voting period, including one century and four half-centuries. She was also signed as an injury replacement for the Renegades.

Speaking of BBL, it was no surprise to see Adelaide Strikers captain Matt Short take out Player of the Year honours once again. He led his side to finals from a 1-4 start, blasting 541 runs to finish 175 of the next most prolific batter this season.

Short went at a strike rate of 153.25 and hit the most sixes in the competition (25), while also bowling handy spin overs. In the WBBL, Sydney Thunder’s Chamari Athapaththu proved a worthy replacement player having hit the second-most runs (511) and taken nine wickets at an economy rate of 6.79.

AWARD WINNERS

POTY = Player of the Year

Allan Border Medal: Mitch Marsh
Belinda Clark Award: Ash Gardner
Shane Warne Men’s Test POTY: Nathan Lyon
Men’s ODI POTY: Mitch Marsh
Men’s T20I POTY: Jason Behrendorff
Women’s ODI POTY: Ellyse Perry
Women’s T20I POTY: Ellyse Perry
Men’s Domestic POTY: Cameron Bancroft
Women’s Domestic POTY: Elyse Villani & Sophie Day
Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year: Fergus O’Neill
Betty Wilson Young Cricketer of the Year: Emma de Broughe
BBL|13 POTT: Matt Short
WBBL|09 POTT: Chamari Athapaththu