Justin Langer is expecting a tight count during Monday night’s Australian cricket awards in Melbourne, where a number of contenders are in the mix to claim the Allan Border medal.
The recipient of the Allan Border medal, presented to the nation’s best performing male cricketer of the year, has often been easy to predict since its establishment in 2000.
But that is certainly not the case during this voting period, during which Australia retained the Ashes in England then stormed to five Test wins at home.
Pat Cummins, David Warner, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon all enjoyed a productive 2019.
Cummins was the most consistent of the six stars, but his rivals could potentially have produced more three-vote performances.
“Often there’s a real standout but (now) there’s a few after what’s been on this winter in the Ashes and World Cup, and this summer,” national men’s coach Langer said after rolling his arm over and donning the pads in Cricket Australia’s bushfire fundraising match.
“I’m not sure who’s going to win. I think it’s going to be tight this year.”
Warner had a prolific World Cup then miserable Ashes series, while Smith excelled in England then failed to post a Test ton at home.
Cummins won the award in 2019, tallying 156 votes to edge Lyon (150) and Aaron Finch (146) on that occasion, and could become the first bowler to win consecutive Allan Border medals.
Alyssa Healy, who won the Belinda Clark award in 2019, is also a good chance to go back to back but Ellyse Perry headlines a list of competitors.
Australian cricket’s night of nights is scheduled to start at 7pm at Crown Melbourne, where a stack of awards will be presented in addition to the two major gongs.
© AAP
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