Gardner and Marsh claim top honours at 2024 Australian Cricket Awards

Ashleigh Gardner and Mitchell Marsh have taken top honours at the Australian Cricket Awards, winning the prestigious Belinda Clark Award and Allan Border Medal respectively.

At a ceremony that celebrated a remarkable year of achievement for Australian cricket, Gardner added a second Belinda Clark Award to the honour she first won in 2022 and Marsh won his first Allan Border Medal.

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.

"Over the last 12 to 24 months my bowling has evolved a lot quicker than what I was thinking," Gardner said.

"To my family, you know what you mean to me. You're always there. You come to every game.

"To my partner, Mon, you see the good days, the bad days, but it's people like you that make playing cricket a lot more enjoyable."

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.

In the Belinda Clark Award, Gardner polled 147 votes ahead of runner-up Ellyse Perry (134) with Annabel Sutherland (106) in third place.

Perry’s enormous contribution to her team’s success was rewarded with both the Women’s ODI Player of the Year and T20I Player of the Year awards.

In ODIs Perry scored 466 runs at 66.57 with a top score of 91. In T20Is she scored 390 runs at 43.33 with a top score of 70 and took six wickets at 9.5 with best figures of 2-3.

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.

Marsh’s first Allan Border Medal capped a wonderful year in which the experienced West Australian’s attacking batting was again a feature of the Australian Men's successful short-form campaigns and saw him recapture a place in the heart of the Test batting order.

Across all formats, Marsh scored 1638 runs at an average of 58.5 with a top score of 177* at a remarkable strike rate of 96 as the Australian Men won a first World Test Championship, retained the Ashes, and won a sixth ICC Men’s ODI World Cup.

In the Allan Border Medal, Marsh polled 223 votes with Pat Cummins (144 votes) and Steve Smith (141 votes) in second and third place.

In a memorable acceptance speech, Marsh was thanked his wife, Greta, as well as captain Pat Cummins and coach Andrew McDonald for “believing in me”.

“Grets is an amazing human, I said in my wedding vows eight months ago, she gave me the perspective on life I needed and our life is a lot of fun. If I get a duck, or get a hundred, she’s always the same,” said Marsh.

“To Ronny (McDonald) and Patty (Cummins) you believed in me and I can’t thank you enough.

“I’m a bit fat at times and I love a beer but you see the best in me always. You’ve changed my life."

Nathan Lyon won the Shane Warne Men’s Test Player of the Year Award in the same year in which he joined Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath as the only Australian bowlers to take 500 Test wickets.

Lyon 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.

Mitchell Marsh won the Men’s ODI Player of the Year Award after a year of stellar performances by members of the World Cup-winning Men’s ODI team.

Marsh scored 858 runs at 47.67 at a strike rate of 113.94 with a memorable top score of 177* against Bangladesh in the ODI World Cup game in Pune.
Jason Behrendorff took out the Men’s T20 International Player of the Year after his successful return to the Australian Men's Team on the tours of South Africa and India.

Behrendorff took eight wickets at 16.5 with a miserly economy rate of 6.6 runs per-over, including a match-winning spell of 1-12 from his four overs in India’s total of 3-223 in the third T20I in Guwahati.

Twenty-three-year-old Emma de Broughe took out the Betty Wilson Young Cricketer of the Year Award.

de Broughe follows Australia’s long tradition of outstanding dual-sport athletes with her cricket blooming after playing for the Australian U21 hockey team.

An opening batter for South Australia and the Melbourne Renegades, de Broughe has thrived in the past year after adding more attacking shots to her repertoire.

De Broughe had an outstanding WNCL making 642 runs at 42.80 including her maiden century (112) and was a handy contributor for the Renegades with 89 runs at 22.25 including a highest score of 42.

"A lot of really highly respected players vote for this, so I'm honored, said de Broughe. "There's been lots of hitting balls thrown by coaches and teammates, and I've got something from every coach I've worked with and players I've played with and against."

Twenty-two-year-old Victorian fast bowler Fergus O’Neill won the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year Award after a year where he enhanced his reputation as one of Australia’s most promising young quicks with a series of strong Marsh Sheffield Shield performances, including a 10-wicket haul (five wickets in each innings) against South Australia at Adelaide Oval and was also a handy contributor with the bat.

In 10 Sheffield Shield matches O’Neill took 38 wickets at 18.74 and scored 322 runs at 29.27 with a top score of 70*. In six Marsh One-Day Cup matches he took 12 wickets at 15.5.

"To be recognised by my peers in this way is an unbelievable honour, particularly when you look at some of the players that have won this award before," said O'Neill.

“I'd like to thank the ACA and Cricket Australia for the award, as well as my teammates and coaches at Victoria, and to everyone who's supported me on and off the field to enable me to play at this level."

Elyse Villani and Sophie Day were announced joint winners of the Women's Domestic Player of the Year.

Villani’s incredible consistency was rewarded with a third Domestic Player of the Year award after another outstanding season with Tasmania and the Hobart Hurricanes.

Villani led Tasmania to a second WNCL title amassing 627 runs at 69.67 with a top score of 112 and scored a decisive century (110) in the dramatic finals victory over South Australia.

In her 13 WBBL games for the Hurricanes Villani scored 324 runs at 36 with a highest score of 58.

“To be voted by your peers is truly special and I feel very fortunate to play the game I love alongside amazing people and athletes from across Australia," said Villani.

“A special congratulations to Soph on also winning the award, a very deserving winner and someone I have loved watching develop over the last few years. A huge thank you to Cricket Australia, the ACA, and the state organisations for being so committed to making our domestic structure the best in the world and providing so many wonderful opportunities for the playing cohort."

25-year-old all-rounder, Day, had a stand-out year with her slow left-arm orthodox bowling causing problems for batters throughout the WNCL and Weber WBBL seasons.

Day’s best figures of 5-25 for the Melbourne Stars against the Sydney Sixers including the prized scalps of Ellyse Perry, Ash Gardner and Suzie Bates was the first time a Stars bowler had taken five wickets in a WBBL match.

In 10 WNCL matches Day scored 112 runs at 18.67 and took 14 wickets at 30.21 and in 14 WBBL matches she took 27 wickets at 12.48.

"It's something a little bit unexpected. To be voted by my peers means a lot to me. I'm always wanting to get better and be a part of the team, but to also be recognised by those who I play against is incredibly rewarding," said Day.

“I'd like to thank the ACA and Cricket Australia for having awards that recognise our domestic players, who are so important to the success of Australian cricket. To share this award with Junior (Villani) is something special– she gave me my caps for the Stars and Victoria and she's someone I've always looked up to."

Prolific West Australian opener, Cameron Bancroft won Men's Domestic PLayer of the Year after another consistent season across all formats leading the way as each of the Marsh Sheffield Shield, Marsh One-Day Cup, and KFC BBL titles headed West.

In 11 Sheffield Shield matches Bancroft scored 974 runs at 60.68 with a highest score of 174* and in seven Marsh Cup appearances amassed 299 runs at 49.83 with a top score of 90.

For the Perth Scorchers Bancroft made 359 runs at 51 with a top score of 95* before his transfer to the Sydney Thunder.

"I'm really proud to receive this prestigious award. To be recognised by other players around the country is very special and I feel honoured," said Bancroft.

“There have been a lot of great players win this award and in years gone by, they were the players I've looked up to and aspired to. The award is a recognition of a lot of hard work, and a nice checkpoint to keep working towards what I want to achieve in cricket – and I'd like to thank the ACA and Cricket Australia for recognising the importance of domestic cricket with these awards.”

Adelaide Strikers’ Matthew Short won the KFC BBL|13 Player of the Tournament for a second consecutive season, while Sri Lankan star Chamari Athapaththu of the Sydney Thunder won the Weber WBBL|09 Player of the Tournament.

Short finished an incredible regular season as the competition’s leading run-scorer with 509 at 72.71 at a strike rate of 153.78 with six fifties and took six wickets.

Sydney Thunder all-rounder Athapaththu was awarded the Weber WBBL’s top honour earlier in the season having dominated WBBL|09 with the bat.

In her fifth season in the WBBL and first with the Thunder, Athapaththu made 511 runs at 42.58 - second on the regular season run-scoring list - and took nine wickets with an economy rate of 6.79.

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