While Annabel Sutherland and Travis Head took top honours by winning the prestigious Belinda Clark Award and Allan Border Medal respectively, four NSW players stood tall by taking home gongs at the Australian Cricket Awards in Melbourne last night.
Ashleigh Gardner was named the Women’s ODI Player of the Year, Josh Hazlewood was awarded the Shane Warne Men’s Test Player of the Year, Adam Zampa is the Men’s T20I Player of the Year and Sam Konstas the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year.
Gardner took out the Women’s ODI Player of the Year award after scoring 385 runs at an average of 38.5 and taking 23 wickets at 15.52 in the voting period.
Hazlewood won the Shane Warne Men’s Test Player of the Year award by taking 30 wickets at an incredible average of just 13.17, with two five wicket hauls.
Alongside those awards, Gardner and Hazlewood polled strongly in the Belinda Clark Award and Allan Border Medal voting, both finishing second, while Australian Men’s Team captain and NSW star Pat Cummins was third in the men’s vote.
Zampa took out the Men’s T20 International Player of the Year after a consistent year that included the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA. Zampa took 35 wickets, 14 more than anyone else, at an average of 17.2.
Meanwhile, 19-year-old Konstas enjoyed a breakout season that culminated with his selection in the Australian Test team on Boxing Day against India. Konstas was Australia’s fourth youngest Test debutant and made an immediate impact, scoring 60 off just 65 balls in front of a packed MCG crowd.
Konstas’ international selection came after scoring 471 runs at 58.87 in five Sheffield Shield matches to start the season. Against South Australia, he scored a century in each innings of the match, the youngest to do so since Ricky Ponting.
His potential as an all-format player was also illustrated in the KFC Big Bash League, where he made two half-centuries for Sydney Thunder in five games, both featuring his ability to utilise the full 360 degrees of the field.
Upon accepting the award, Sam Konstas said:
“To even be considered is a huge honour, just grateful for the opportunities that I had. I've learnt so much from my mentors throughout the year.
"The pinnacle of my season was the Boxing Day Test and playing with and against the players that I idolised as a kid and winning that Test was significant given where the series was at 1-1.
“The key for me has been having the right people around me so I'm grateful to them and all the opportunities that I've had.”
NSW’s BBL clubs were not without joy too - Sydney Sixers skipper Ellyse Perry was the joint winner of the Weber WBBL | 10 Player of the Tournament, while Sydney Thunder’s rising star Georgia Voll claimed the Women’s Domestic Player of the Year.
Perry topped the WBBL run-scorers list with 424 runs at an average of 53 and was named in the WBBL Team of the Tournament for the sixth time.
Voll, in her first season at the Sydney Thunder, was selected in the WBBL team of the tournament after scoring 310 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 147.62. Much was made of her 97 at the MCG, but her 92 off 55 balls against the Strikers was just as impressive. Across all domestic formats, Voll scored 810 runs from 24 innings at an average of 36.81 with an impressive strike rate of 116.05.
The recent inductions of former NSW platers Michael Clarke, Christina Matthews and Michael Bevan into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame was also recognised.
FULL LIST OF AWARD WINNERS
Belinda Clark Award – Annabel Sutherland (168 votes)
2nd: Ashleigh Gardner (143 votes)
3rd: Beth Mooney (115 votes)
Allan Border Medal – Travis Head (208 votes)
2nd: Josh Hazlewood (158 votes)
3rd: Pat Cummins (147 votes)
Women’s ODI Player of the Year – Ashleigh Gardner
Women’s T20I Player of the Year – Beth Mooney
Shane Warne Men’s Test Player of the Year – Josh Hazlewood
Men’s ODI Player of the Year – Travis Head
Men’s T20I Player of the Year – Adam Zampa
Weber WBBL | 10 Player of the Tournament – Ellyse Perry* and Jess Jonassen
KFC BBL | 14 Player of the Tournament – Glenn Maxwell and Cooper Connolly
Women’s Domestic Player of the Year – Georgia Voll**
Men’s Domestic Player of the Year – Beau Webster
Betty Wilson Young Cricketer of the Year – Chloe Ainsworth
Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year – Sam Konstas
Community Impact Award – Cameron Green
Woolworths Cricket Blaster of the Year – Frankie Mountney
Australian Cricket Hall of Fame inductees – Michael Clarke, Christina Matthews and Michael Bevan
* Sydney Sixers player (not NSW contracted)
**Sydney Thunder player (not NSW contracted)
VOTING FRAMEWORK
The awards for international cricket are based on votes from players, umpires and the media on a 3-2-1 basis from each match.
For the domestic awards, the votes are collected from players.
To be eligible for the Young Cricketer of the Year awards, players must be 24 years or less prior to the commencement of the award period and have not won the award previously.
Prior to the award period, male players must have played 10 or less first-class matches and 25 or less combined List A and BBL matches and female players 25 or less matches.