David Warner wins Allan Border medal; Maxwell wins ODI cricketer of the year award
Australia's swashbuckling batsman David Warner was given the Allan Border Medal for being the most outstanding cricketer and was also adjudged to be the best Test player of the year at a glittering award ceremony here on Wednesday.
Hard-hitting batsman Glenn Maxwell was named the One-Day International (ODI) player of the year.
The Australian opener won the prestigious Allan Border medal for the first time as he (30 votes) polled six more than Test skipper Steve Smith (24 votes) with pacer Mitchell Starc placed third with 18 votes in the Test player of the Year category.
"My heart is racing. I honestly thought Smudge had a terrific year and he would have taken this out," Warner was quoted as saying by Cricket Australia on Wednesday.
"People said to me I could have been one of the greats of the game but I just sat there and let it go through my ears. You can only control what you control on the field," he added.
Warner was player of the series for the home wins against New Zealand this season having scored twin hundreds at Brisbane and 253 at Perth. He finished the series with a remarkable return of 592 runs at 98.66 from three Tests.
The Belinda Clark Award, for Australia's best women's cricketer across the international formats, went to Ellyse Perry for the first time.
South Australia batsman Alex Ross was named the Bradman young cricketer of the year, while batsman Adam Voges was the domestic player of the year for the first time.