Mitchell Starc edges Marsh by 1 vote, becomes 5th pacer to win Allan Border Medal

Mitchell Starc edged out Australia teammate Mitchell Marsh by one vote to win Allan Border Medal.

Starc was only the fifth fast bowler to win the award since its inception in 2000 after Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson and Pat Cummins.

The left-arm pacer received praise from the former winner of the AB Medal and the current Australian Test captain Cummins. "So happy for this guy. Skill, perseverance, competitiveness, team man and a legend of a bloke to boot!" Cummins wrote in a Tweet.

The last time a player won the AB Medal by just one vote was in 2020 when David Warner won it ahead of Steve Smith.

For their performance in the last one year, Starc finished with 107 votes, Marsh with 106 and Travis Head with 72 votes.

Starc played a significant role in Australia's maiden T20 World Cup win last October and their winter tours of West Indies and Bangladesh. Following that, Starc returned home and played in all the five Ashes Tests. The New South Wales pacer picked up 19 wickets at an average of 25.37.

Starc, who picked up 43 wickets across formats in 2021 at 24.4, was also named the Men's ODI Player of the Year. Interestingly, his wife Alyssa Healy was announced the Women's ODI Player of the Year.

Meanwhile, Marsh was named Australia's Twenty20 International (T20I) Player of the Year. There were no surprises there as he had played a vital role in Australia's successful T20 World Cup campaign. He was the Man of the Match in the final, where Australia defeated New Zealand by eight wickets. Marsh remained unbeaten on 77 off 50 during Australia's chase of 173.

Marsh was elevated to No. 3 during Australia's tour of the Caribbean. The move turned out to be excellent as he finished as the leading run-scorer for Australia in the T20Is in 2021. He scored 627 runs in 21 games at an average of 36.88. It also included six fifties.

Head, who finished as the leading run scorer in the recently-concluded Ashes series, was named Australia's Test and domestic cricketer of the year. Head scored 357 runs at an average of 59.50 as Australia defeated England 4-0 to reclaim the Ashes.

2021-22 Australian Cricket Awards

Belinda Clark Award

Winner: Ashleigh Gardner (54 votes)

Runners-up: Beth Mooney (47), Alyssa Healy (39)

Allan Border Medal

Winner: Mitchell Starc (107 votes)

Runners-up: Mitchell Marsh (106), Travis Head (72)

Men's Test Player of the Year

Winner: Travis Head (12 votes)

Runners-up: Scott Boland (10), Mitchell Starc (7)

Women's ODI Player of the Year

Winner: Alyssa Healy (13 votes)

Runners-up: Rachael Haynes (10), Megan Schutt (10)

Men's ODI Player of the Year

Winner: Mitchell Starc (15 votes)

Runners-up: Matthew Wade (6), Adam Zampa & Alex Carey (4)

Women's T20 Player of the Year

Winner: Beth Mooney (13 votes)

Runners-up: Tahlia McGrath (10), Ashleigh Gardner (6)

Men's T20 Player of the Year

Winner: Mitchell Marsh (53 votes)

Runners-up: Josh Hazlewood (29), Ashton Agar (26)

Women's Domestic Player of the Year

Elyse Villani

Men's Domestic Player of the Year

Travis Head

Betty Wilson Young Cricketer

Darcie Brown

Bradman Young Cricketer

Tim Ward

Community Impact Award

Zoe Cooke

Australian Cricket Hall of Fame inductees

Justin Langer & Raelee Thompson