Gardner, Lyon trump 2024 Australian Cricket Awards

Gardner also took out the Community Impact Award, while NSW Blues veteran Nathan Lyon won the Shane Warne Men’s Test Player of the Year Award in the same year in which he joined Warne and Glenn McGrath as the only Australian bowlers to take 500 Test wickets. 

Complementing Gardner and Lyon as winners were Sydney Sixers skipper Ellyse Perry, who claimed both the Women’s ODI Player of the Year and T20I Player of the Year awards, and Sydney Thunder’s Sri Lankan star Chamari Athapaththu, who won the Weber WBBL|09 Player of the Tournament.

At the ceremony which celebrated a remarkable year of achievement for Australian cricket, Western Australian all-rounder Mitch Marsh won his first Allan Border Medal. 

Marsh (223 points) beat a host of NSW players for the major men’s prize – Pat Cummins (144) was second, Steve Smith (141) third, Mitchell Starc (135) fourth, Lyon (126) seventh, David Warner (120) eighth and Adam Zampa (90) tenth. 

Gardner was again outstanding in all formats throughout a season in which the Australian Women continued their dominance on the international stage winning the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa, retaining the Women’s Ashes and winning ODI and T20I series in India. 

A member of both the ICC ODI and T20I Teams of the Year, Gardner was also outstanding in the Australian Women’s two Test matches. Her remarkable 12 wicket haul against England at Trent Bridge, including match-winning figures of 8-66 in the second innings, was one of the highlights of the cricket year.    

Across all formats, Gardner scored 499 runs at 24.94 with a top score of 65 and took 56 wickets at 19.39 with best figures of 8-66. 

Gardner polled 147 votes in the Belinda Clark Award, just ahead of runner-up Perry (134) with Annabel Sutherland (106) in third place. NSW and Sydney Thunder prodigy Phobe Litchfield (83) was fourth and Breakers’ captain Alyssa Healy (73) fifth.

Litchfield was also runner-up to Perry in voting for the Women’s ODI gong, with the 20-year-old scoring her first century against Ireland in July and finishing with a superb series against India which saw her score 78, 63 and 119.

In a hotly contested field, Lyon’s Test Player of the Year award was his second in the category. The off spinner took 49 Test wickets at 23.73 with a best return of 8-64 in the victory over India at Indore and scored 131 runs at 10.8. 

Gardner’s significant off-field contribution was also acknowledged with the Community Impact Award. Gardner established the Ashleigh Gardner Foundation (AGF) in 2021 intending to create a healthy start to the school day for Indigenous children believing providing breakfast and unstructured play enhances educational outcomes. 

Cricket NSW CEO Lee Germon congratulated the state’s winners, paying particular respect to Gardner and the depth NSW players added to the Australian teams.

“On behalf of the NSW cricket community I’d like to congratulate Ash Gardner on a thoroughly deserved second Belinda Clark Award,” Germon said.

“Ash had an incredible year and the fact she was also honoured with the Community Impact Award shows just what an incredible contributor she is to cricket and the community in this state and around the country.

“NSW players polled highly in the major awards with six of the top ten in the AB Medal and three of the top five in the Belinda Clark Award. This is a reflection of the significant work done by our staff and volunteers in the early stages of these players’ careers and something we are very proud of.”

Full List of Award winners  

Belinda Clark Award – Ashleigh Gardner (147 votes)
2nd: Ellyse Perry (134 votes)
3rd: Annabel Sutherland (106)

Allan Border Medal – Mitchell Marsh (223 votes)
Pat Cummins (144 votes)
Steven Smith (141 votes)

Women’s ODI Player of the Year – Ellyse Perry
Women’s T20I Player of the Year – Ellyse Perry

Shane Warne Men’s Test Player of the Year – Nathan Lyon 

Men’s ODI Player of the Year – Mitchell Marsh
Men’s T20I Player of the Year – Jason Behrendorff 

Weber WBBL | 09 Player of the Tournament – Chamari Athapaththu 
KFC BBL | 13 Player of the Tournament – Matthew Short 

Women’s Domestic Player of the Year – Sophie Day, Elyse Villani (tied).
Men’s Domestic Player of the Year – Cameron Bancroft 

Betty Wilson Young Cricketer of the Year – Emma De Broughe
Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year – Fergus O’Neill 

Community Impact Award – Ashleigh Gardner 

Woolworths Cricket Blaster of the Year – Taj Bower

Australian Cricket Hall of Fame inductees – Michael Hussey and Lyn Larsen