Brisbane | Travis Head became only the fifth player to win consecutive Allan Border Medals after edging close friend Alex Carey in a neck-and-neck count for Australia's top men's individual cricket award.
"(I felt) very privileged and honoured to have 'AB' (Border) in the room; that's the difference (from last year's presentation in Sri Lanka), is having him there to present it," Head was quoted as saying in cricket.com.au after receiving his second straight medal from former Australia captain Allan Border at an event here on Friday.
"To think that I've got two medals and my kids can look at them and I can tell them (about it) in 20 years' time is pretty cool. To have both India and England series in there (for both medals) is cool," he added.
Head pipped Carey by a single vote and fast bowler Mitchell Starc by three votes in the voting period that ran from January 29, 2025 to January 8, 2026.
The star batter's decisive performance came in the New Year's Test at the SCG, where he smashed 163, his third century of an Ashes series in which he made an unexpected switch to the opening position.
Head finished the voting period as Australia's leading Test run-scorer and also the ODI side's most prolific batter.
His other standout performances included a 123 in Perth and a 170 in Adelaide during the Ashes, besides a 142 against South Africa in an ODI at Mackay.
Head joined Steve Smith and Nathan Lyon as multiple winners of the AB Medal. Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, David Warner and Shane Watson are the other players to have won the award in consecutive years.
Starc was presented the Shane Warne Men's Test Player of the Year award by the late spinner's father Keith.
He was rewarded for a prolific year that included 31 Ashes wickets and a remarkable 6 for 9 with a pink Dukes ball in Jamaica.
Mitchell Marsh was named ODI Player of the Year, while Tim David won the T20I award.
Annabel Sutherland was presented the Belinda Clark Medal in February, with Cricket Australia unable to hold a formal awards night due to the overlapping schedules of its men's and women's teams.
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