Head pips Carey to retain Allan Border medal, Starc, Marsh, David win big too

Australian cricket's top individual prize stayed in familiar hands as Travis Head clinched his second straight Allan Border Medal at Cricket Australia's delayed honors event in Brisbane.

Travis Head wins Allan Border medal again

The explosive opening batter topped the tally with 153 votes, edging out runner-up Alex Carey by a solitary vote, while Mitchell Starc rounded out a tight top three with 150 votes. The outcome sees Head join an elite group as just the fifth cricketer to secure the medal in consecutive seasons.

The broader men's honors were distributed across formats, with Starc claiming the Shane Warne Men's Test Player of the Year title, Mitchell Marsh earning ODI Player of the Year honors, and Tim David named T20I Player of the Year. Earlier in February, Annabel Sutherland was presented with the Belinda Clark Medal prior to an SCG training session, filling the gap during a 2025–26 schedule that lacked a traditional black-tie awards ceremony.

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Mitchell Starc claiming the Shane Warne Men's Test Player of the Year title

The contest for the marquee award went down to the wire in the final stretch of the qualification window. Head's candidacy gained vital traction during the concluding Ashes Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where his promotion to open the batting yielded a decisive 163. That performance proved crucial in a tightly contested match that also saw major contributions from Steve Smith, Beau Webster, Mitchell Starc, and Michael Neser.

With this back-to-back success, Head aligns his name with Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke, and David Warner as the only players to retain the honor in back-to-back years. The win also adds him to the club of multi-time recipients alongside current teammates Steve Smith and Nathan Lyon.

A remarkable 11-match run paved the way for Starc to claim Test Player of the Year honors, as the left-arm pacer routed opposition batters with 57 wickets at a miserly average of 18.12. Dominating the bowling charts, he took more than twice as many wickets as nearest teammate Nathan Lyon (28). Starc accumulated 25 votes to clear Head (21) and Carey (20), taking home the red-ball award for the second time—nearly a decade after his first win.

In the 50-over category, Marsh took out ODI Player of the Year despite appearing in just six of the team's 10 eligible fixtures during the period. Returning to the side following a back injury, the all-rounder skippered Australia during home series against South Africa and India while maintaining an elite batting average above 60.

Rounding out the individual honors, David was recognized as T20I Player of the Year after a destructive campaign in the shortest format. Flourishing in a promoted middle-order role, he notched an explosive strike rate of 197.50 alongside a 49.37 average, highlighted by a blistering 37-ball debut international century against the West Indies in St Kitts.