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Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh got emotional as he won his maiden Allan Border Medal during the 2023 Cricket Australia Awards. Marsh got 223 votes across formats, while captain Pat Cummins and deputy skipper Steven Smith got 144 and 141 votes, respectively. Not only this but by winning the award, Marsh became the first all-rounder in more than a decade to win the prestigious honour since Shane Watson in 2011.
Marsh established himself as a key player for the Kangaroos in the past year. He scored 540 runs in 10 innings averaging at 67.5, as well as scored a hundred in the Ashes while having 4 fifties to his name. The all-rounder was seemingly excited about winning the medal and revealed that he recently thought of winning the medal. Not only this, but the cricketer also got emotional while accepting the award and said that he thought he was done while going through a rough patch in his career.
In his speech, Marsh said, “I thought I was done and dusted. I often spoke to my wife about it. I just wanted to get one more crack at it. It’s been amazing.” Thanking his family, friends, colleagues, and teammates, the cricketer said, “We’ve had so much team success, and I’m really proud to have been able to contribute to that over this period of time. I’d like to pay particular thank you to Ronnie and Patty. You just believed in me. I can’t thank you enough for just believing in me. I’m a bit fat at times and I love a beer, but you see the best in me always.”
Lyon wins Shane Warne Award; Perry bags Women’s ODI & T20I player
Nathan Lyon won the Shane Warne Men’s Test Player of the Year whereas Ellyse Perry clinched the Women’s ODI Player of the Year title. Apart from that, Perry also won the Women’s T20I Player of the Year, whereas the Men’s T20I Player of the Year went to Jason Behrendorff. In addition, Western Australian kid Taj Bower won the Woolworths Cricket Blaster of the Year Award and he received his award from last year’s winner Mabel Tovey.
Matthew Short was named the BBL Player of the Tournament, whereas Chamari Athapaththu took home the WBBL Player of the Tournament Award.