Australia all-rounder Travis Head claimed a second consecutive Allan Border Medal during Cricket Australia’s delayed annual awards ceremony in Brisbane. The white-ball opener finished on 153 votes to secure Australian cricket’s highest individual honour, just one vote ahead of teammate Alex Carey. On the other hand, Mitchell Starc ended a close third with 150 votes. Meanwhile, the result made Head only the fifth player to win back-to-back Allan Border Medals.
Alongside Head’s triumph, Starc was named Shane Warne Men’s Test Player of the Year, Mitchell Marsh collected the ODI Player of the Year award and Tim David was recognised as T20I Player of the Year. Annabel Sutherland had earlier received the Belinda Clark Medal before a training session at the Sydney Cricket Ground in February, with no formal Australian Cricket Awards night held during the 2025-26 season.
Notably, the Allan Border Medal race remained undecided until the closing stages of the voting period. Head’s unbeaten campaign gathered momentum during the final Ashes Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where he scored 163 after moving into the opening role. Although individual match voting was not released, the innings came in a match that also featured a century from Steve Smith and influential performances from Beau Webster, Starc and Michael Neser.
The victory places Head alongside Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke and David Warner as the only players to retain the Allan Border Medal in successive years. He also joined teammates Steve Smith and Nathan Lyon as multiple-time winners of the award.
Starcโs stunning Test year
Starc’s Test Player of the Year recognition followed an outstanding campaign in which he collected 57 wickets at an average of 18.12 across 11 Tests. His tally was more than double the next-highest wicket haul during the voting period, with Nathan Lyon taking 28 wickets. Starc secured 25 votes, ahead of Head on 21 and Carey on 20, to earn the award for the second time in his career, nine years after first receiving the honour.
Meanwhile, Marsh claimed the ODI Player of the Year title despite featuring in only six of Australia’s 10 eligible ODIs. Returning from a back injury to captain Australia in home bilateral series against South Africa and India, he averaged more than 60 with the bat.ย
David completed the list of major men’s winners after an exceptional T20I season. Promoted into the middle order, he averaged 49.37 with a strike rate of 197.50 and registered his maiden international century with a 37-ball hundred against the West Indies in St Kitts.ย
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