Steve Smith wins Allan Border Medal for the third time in his career
Steve Smith won the third Allan Border Medal of his career on Tuesday (February 6). Smith (126 votes) edged his teammates Pat Cummins (114 votes) and Aaron Finch (97 votes) to claim the prize.
The Allan Border Medal is the most prestigious award in Australian men's cricket. Former Australia captains Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke received this award four times each in their careers. Opener David Warner has three Allan Border Medals to his name, and Steve Smith has equaled his tally now.
Steve Smith had previously won the award in 2015 and 2018. The Aussie batsman, who recently won the ICC Test Player of the Decade trophy, also claimed the Cricket Australia ODI Player of the Year award.
Pat Cummins was named the Test Player of the Year, while Ashton Agar took the T20I Player of the Year award home.
Steve Smith did not have a memorable 2020 in Test cricket. He aggregated a paltry 73 runs in the three Tests he played. However, Smith made an excellent start to 2021, scoring 303 runs in two matches against India.
In ODI cricket, Smith aggregated 568 runs at a fantastic average of 63.11. Meanwhile, he scored 217 T20I runs last year at a strike rate of 131.52.
"I was a bit surprised, I didn't feel I had the biggest Test summer," Steve Smith
As mentioned ahead, 2020 was not Steve Smith's best year in Test cricket. Hence, Smith was a bit amazed when he received the Allan Border Medal. Reacting to his victory at the Cricket Australia awards, Smith said:
"I was a bit surprised, I didn't feel I had the biggest Test summer, which I think holds the most votes. I think my one-day cricket was pretty good last year, so a lot of votes there, but it's obviously an honour to win this for the third time."