Australian Cricket Awards: Steve Smith pips David Warner, Travis Head to win top honour

Cricket Australia (CA) on Sunday handed out several awards to its elite male and female players who gathered together for the ceremony at Sydney's Randwick Racecourse. Steve Smith was once again presented with the prestigious Allan Border Medal, which he won for a record fourth time in his career, equalling Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke's feat. Smith with 171 votes finished ahead of Travis Head (144 votes) and David Warner (141). 

Smith won the award courtesy of his 1,524 runs across all formats including three centuries in the longest format. Smith hit Test centuries against Sri Lanka (145* in Galle), West Indies (200* in Perth), and South Africa (104 in Sydney) during the voting period. Nobody in history has ever won the Allan Border Medal five times. Smith has a chance of reaching the milestone when the Cricket Australia awards are held the next time. 

Meanwhile, Beth Mooney received the top prize in the women's category as she won the Belinda Clark Award. It was a repeat of the 2021 awards when Smith and Mooney had both received Australian cricket's highest individual honours. Usman Khawaja was named the men's Test player of the year, while David Warner and Marcus Stoinis were picked as the ODI and T20I players of the year respectively. 

The women's ODI player of the year and the female T20 player of the year went to Beth Mooney and Tahila McGrath respectively. Khawaja also received the Community Impact Award. Matt Short of Adelaide Strikers was named the BBL 12 player of the tournament, while Ashleigh Gardner of Sydney Sixers was named the WBBL 08 player of the tournament. 

2023 Australian Cricket Awards

Allan Border Medal: Steve Smith 

Belinda Clark Award: Beth Mooney 

Shane Warne Men's Test Player of the Year: Usman Khawaja 

Women's ODI Player of the Year: Beth Mooney 

Men's ODI Player of the Year: David Warner 

Female T20 Player of the Year: Tahlia McGrath 

Male T20 Player of the Year: Marcus Stoinis 

KFC BBL|12 Player of the Tournament: Matt Short (Adelaide Strikers)

Weber WBBL|08 Player of the Tournament: Ashleigh Gardner (Sydney Sixers)

Women's Domestic Player of the Year: Annabel Sutherland

Men's Domestic Player of the Year: Michael Neser

Betty Wilson Young Cricketer: Courtney Sippel

Bradman Young Cricketer: Lance Morris

Community Impact Award: Usman Khawaja

Image: cricket.com.au