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A tour of South Africa is on the horizon, but Australia’s elite cricketers will gather for the Allan Border Medal before departure, with captain Steve Smith the red-hot favourite to win his second. Join The Roar for live updates and coverage.
Australian cricket’s biggest awards ceremony, which came into existence in 2000, has only seen four players win the major gong on more than one occasion.
Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke lead the way with four, while Shane Watson and David Warner – who has won the last two – are also multiple winners.
Smith’s only win of the award to date came during 2015, before the dominance of Warner began. The Aussie captain was second in 2017, but it’s almost a non-event this year.
Smith was arguably the best in the world during the 2017 calendar year, racking up a staggering 1305 runs at 76.76 in Test cricket. Obviously, expect him to also take out the award for Test player of the year.
The shorter forms are a little harder to tip. It’s unlikely to be Smith winning either of them though and his closest rival for the Allan Border Medal, David Warner, is likely to be in the reckoning again.
Warner was the only Aussie picked in the ICC ODI team of the year, so it’s hard to see him not picking up another local ODI player of the year.
While the Aussies only played five T20 matches during 2017, the race for player of the year appears to be between Aaron Finch and Adam Zampa.
Finch was consistent at the top of the order, making 158 runs at 31.6, with a healthy strike rate.
Zampa’s biggest problem is missing one game and only bowling a single over in another. He would have scored points in the other three games with plenty of wickets though.
The women’s award has been won by Meg Lanning for three of the last four years, however injuries mean it will change hands this year. Ellyse Perry, who took top honour in 2016, is favourite after a strong year with both bat and ball, headlined by her double century against England in the Ashes Test at North Sydney Oval.
Other awards to be decided include men’s and women’s domestic and young player of the year.
Prediction
Smith is going to win the Allan Border Medal and Test player of the year – that’s a given. Ellyse Perry should be his equal, taking the Belinda Clarke medal for a second time.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of the Allan Border Medal from 7:30pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.