Michael Clarke will be favourite to win the Allan Border Medal and we will bring you all the live updates from the Melbourne’s Crown Casino from 8.30 pm AEDT tonight.
In the considered period, Clarke has the statistics to back his ‘favourite’ tag, what with the 1167 runs scored at a near-70 average in Test match cricket to go with his record as a captain.
There was a match-winning century at Colombo, a 151 that towered over the rest at Cape Town against South Africa and a more recent triple-century versus India at the SCG. He topped all of that with a double century in against the same opponent.
Clarke’s ODI record has been excellent too. While his only century during the voting period came against Bangladesh, he averaged 121 in five innings in Sri Lanka and has been equally adept in the home series against India and Sri Lanka.
Michael Hussey could run Michael Clarke close. He had ended up as the man-of-the-match in all the three Test matches of the series in Sri Lanka and while his form tapered off a little in the series against South Africa and New Zealand that followed, he came back well against India.
Hussey could be one of the favourites for the Test Player of the Year award.
In the ODI Player of the Year categories, Shane Watson could jump into the fray but his injury-related issues have caused him to miss most of the recent games.
Earlier, Watson had smashed a 185 not out against Bangladesh in Dhaka, which broke the previous record for most sixes by an Australian in an ODI and may give Clarke a run for his money.
The other categories at tonight’s awards include T20 Player of the Year, State Player of the Year, Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year, Women’s Cricketer of the Year:
The previous winners of the Allan Border Medal are as follows:
Glenn McGrath, Steve Waugh, Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting (4), Michael Clarke (2), Brett Lee, Shane Watson (2)
You can read here about how the Allan Border awards are calculated.
Dubble Bubble
Guest
Ha Ha.I was listening to his speech and was waiting to see how he would go about avoiding mentioning him. No one has ever accused Warne of being subtle!
Red Kev
Roar Guru
Seems like a decent list of winners, shame Wade didn't play more T20s as I think he might have edged Watson if they both played all games.
Red Kev
Roar Guru
Not that I doubt the value of Watson in limited overs cricket, but highlights against Bangledesh are hardly a strong argument.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
That is it from me then...Clarke fans will rejoice at his third Allan Border Medal, becoming only the second player after Ricky Ponting to win at least three.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
So here is the final list of the awards: Allan Border Medal: Michael Clarke Test Player of the Year: Michael Clarke ODI Player of the Year: Shane Watson T20 Player of the Year: Shane Watson State Player of the Year: Rob Quiney Young Cricketer of the Year: David Warner Women's Cricketer of the Year: Shelley Nitschke
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
...and the winner is on expected lines again, Michael Clarke again! Clarke gets 231 votes to Michael Hussey's 174 votes for the Allan Border Medal.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson are the four contenders for the Allan Border Medal.
Stoffy18
Roar Guru
There is only so much of this commercialised nonsense that i can take.. Time to channel surf before they announce the inevitable!
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Allan Border on stage to give away the Allan Border Medal for the Year.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Gus, so far, Clarke's won the Test player of the Year, Watson has won both, the ODI and T20I cricketer. The State Player of the Year: Rob Quiney Young Cricketer of the Year: David Warner and Women's Cricketer of the Year: Shelley Nitschke
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Hussey, Ponting and Pattinson were nominated for that Test Player of the Year award, but Clarke, to me, rightly deserved the award.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Yep, Michael Clarke it is, winning the Test Player of the Year award!
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Playing out all the Tests played in this period. Hussey and Clarke stand out, but some good performances by the likes of Ricky Ponting, Pat Cummins, Peter Siddle, James Pattinson and Ben Hilfenhaus...
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Now we are on to the Test Player of the Year award. The two Michaels, Hussey and Clarke will be in reckoning for this one. I think Clarke should edge out Hussey here...
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
So to sum up the awards so far for those those just joining in, Shane Watson has won both, the T20 and the ODI Player of the Year award, apart from Rob Quiney winning the State Player of the Year. The Young Cricketer of the Year went to David Warner while Shelley Nitschke has won the Women's Cricketer of the Year. The Test Player of the Year and the Allan Border Medal still to come.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Warne's on the stage, thanking all the influences on his cricketing career. The late Terry Jenner, his coach and Ian Chappell, Allan Border and Mark Taylor. No mention of Steve Waugh obviously.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Mark Taylor and Doug Walters were inducted into the Hall of Fame last year. Garth McKenzie and Bill Lawry before that. Steve Waugh in 2009.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Richie Benuad introduced Warne into Australian Cricket's Hall of Fame, making him the 35th Australian in that elite list.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Shane Warne was inducted into the Hall of Fame there. Earlier, Hall of Fame chairman David Crow said in a statement, "He revived leg-spin, combining accuracy with variety and enormous turn, even on unhelpful pitches. It was the timing of his performances in addition to his sheer weight of wickets that further underlined his legendary status."
Renegade
Guest
Picked this one easily, anyone who disagrees clearly has short term memory....he carried the team for 18 months leading into the tour of South Africa.