Mitchell Starc has taken a thinly-veiled swipe at Shane Warne after being named the Allan Border Medallist following a tremendously successful summer.
Despite coming into the Ashes series with his spot seemingly under threat, Starc excelled against England, finishing with 19 wickets and appeared in all five Tests.
Starc claimed the award in a tight finish, with his 107 votes edging out Mitchell Marsh (106) and Travis Head (72).
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One of Starc’s most vocal critics has been Warne, and when asked about his spectacular wicket with the opening delivery of the Ashes series in Brisbane, the left-armer mocked Warne’s comments regarding the moment.
“You’re running in just trying to hit the stumps I guess. It was a straight half-volley on leg stump, I think someone said,” Starc said.
“It was just a huge series, the noise there was incredible. The only thing louder was at the MCG. Just the whole Ashes series was a phenomenal series for the group.”
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Starc is the first bowler to win the award since Australian captain Pat Cummins back in 2019, and his win made it eight straight years of a New South Wales native taking out the honour.
“I’m not really sure what words to say at the moment,” he said.
“I’m very surprised. It’s obviously a peer-voted award so that adds extra special meaning.
“To look at some of those names that have won this before, it’ll take a while for it to sink in.
“It’s hard not to look back on the last six months and some of the performances across the board. It’d be hard not to sit back as an Australian cricketer or as a fan and not be proud of the group.”
Ashleigh Gardner took out the Belinda Clark Award, finishing seven votes ahead of last year’s winner Beth Mooney, with Alyssa Healy finishing in third place.
Gardner scored 181 runs at 35.10 across 10 innings during the voting period, which included four half centuries, while she also took nine wickets at 33.90.
There was also an honour for embattled Australian men’s coach Justin Langer, who was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame alongside Raelee Thompson.
OTHER AUSTRALIAN CRICKET AWARDS WINNERS
Male Test Player of the Year: Travis Head
Male ODI Player of the Year: Mitchell Starc
Male T20 Player of the Year: Mitchell Marsh
Female ODI Player of the Year: Alyssa Healy
Female T20I Player of the Year: Beth Mooney
Female Domestic Player of the Year: Elyse Villani
Male Domestic Player of the Year: Travis Head
Betty Wilson Young Cricketer of the Year: Darcie Brown
Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year: Tim Ward
Community Champion Award: Zoe Cooke