All-rounders Mitchell Marsh, Ashleigh Gardner bag top honours at Australian Cricket Awards

Melbourne [Australia]: Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh was named the Allan Border Medalist at the 2024 Australian Cricket Awards on Wednesday while Ashleigh Gardner bagged the Belinda Clark Award. 

Marsh made a return to the Test format in the Ashes 2023 at Headingley and scored a run-a-ball 118. The right-handed batter went on to score 441 runs with an average of 49 during last year’s ODI World Cup, which also included a 177* against Bangladesh. 

“I’m a bit fat at times and I love a beer but you see the best in me always and you’ve changed my life. For your support and your leadership, Patty, playing under you is a dream,” Marsh said during the event as quoted from ESPNcricinfo. 

“I often spoke to my wife about… that I just wanted to get one more crack at it, and it’s been amazing. She gave me the perspective on life that I needed,” Marsh added. 
The 32-year-old scored 594 runs in six Tests at an average of 66. In ODIs, he amassed 858 runs at an average of 47.66 and had a strike rate of 113.94. 

He also enjoyed a prolific T20I series against South Africa in which he struck 92* and 79* in three innings. 

On the other hand, Gardner bagged her second Belinda Clark Award, she was previously honoured with the coveted accolade in 2022. 

Gardner had an exceptional 2023 as she claimed 20 wickets, while in T20Is, which included Australia’s triumph at the World Cup in 2023, she picked up 19 wickets with an economy rate of 7.49. With the bat, she averaged 33.16 in ODIs, and in T20I format she had an average of 24.10 with a strike rate of 118.13. 

“It’s been an interesting year. Think a lot of people probably think I’m more of a batter, or batting allrounder, but over the last 12-24 months think my bowling has probably evolved a lot quicker than what I was thinking.

I’ve put a lot of trust in my captain to bring me on at different times and being able to reap those rewards of taking wickets has been a nice change,” Gardner said during the event. 

Australia’s veteran spinner Nathan Lyon was named Shane Warne Men’s Test Player of the Year. He missed out on three matches of the Ashes due to the calf injury he suffered at Lord’s in the second Test.