The Allan Border Medal

[Donny]

Cricket Australia: Allan Border Medal

Name - Total Votes - Player - Media/Umpire

Ricky Ponting 139 64 75
Matthew Hayden 91 43 34
Adam Gilchrist 70 34 36
Brett Lee 58 30 28
Darren Lehmann 58 28 30
Justin Langer 56 28 28
Andrew Symonds 53 23 30
Stuart MacGill 47 22 25
Jason Gillespie 42 21 21
Andy Bichel 40 21 19
Simon Katich 37 22 15
Steve Waugh 34 22 12
Michael Clarke 32 19 13
Damien Martyn 28 14 14
Brad Williams 24 12 12
Michael Bevan 20 11 9
Ian Harvey 18 9 9
Glenn McGrath 14 8 6
Brad Hogg 13 6 7
Nathan Bracken 12 6 6
Nathan Hauritz 1 1 0
Michael Kasprowicz 1 1 0

[Donny]

Good to see Gilly and Punter win the Best ODI Player and Best Test Player as they'll probably be able to afford to get their hair done before an awards night like this.

Perhaps Ricky can even afford a tie after winning the overall Allan Border Medal.

To those (JLC, wombat etc.) who find it amusing that I reckon Lehmann will go straight back into the Test team, consider this:

He missed the whole of the VB series and 5 Tests and yet still came equal 4th. in the Australian cricketer of the year award.

[Donny]

Award Player

Allan Border Medal * Ricky Ponting
Test Player of the Year * Ricky Ponting
One Day International Player of the Year * Adam Gilchrist
Women's International Cricketer of the Year * Cathryn Fitzpatrick
State Player of the Year * Simon Katich
Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year * Shaun Tait
Inductees to the Hall of Fame * Alan Davidson Hugh Trumble

How Tait won the Young Cricketer of the Year is beyond me. He hasn't even taken 20 wickets and his average is above 30 and yet David Hussey is on the verge of scoring 1000 runs in the Pura Cup and has centuries in the ING Cup and Allan Wise, in his first season in first class cricket, puts Tait's figures to shame.

[Johnson#26]

Well done to all who won an award - especially Katich. It is pleasing to see a guy who has a hunger for hard work get rewarded. I think 'Kato' is the key to our batting line up (along with Hayden) on the sub-continent. It's amazing to think that he didn't even seem to be in contension for a spot in the team at the start of the season.

[commonwombat]

Donny,

He may well be selected for Sri Lanka. He is a player of sufficient quality that he MUST be considered however it is my contention that his intl record, excellent as it is, plus his age and prospective future do not entitle him to a walk-up start.

[CQ]

ha, how gay was haydens hairstyle, LOL!!!

[Donny]

Would've loved to see what style Michael Clarke was sporting under that silly hat.

[Donny]

Re. Lehmann.

Not all players are selected with the long or mid term future in mind. The point I make about Lehmann is in relation to Australia's new Test captain.

Hohns and Steve Waugh both speak highly of Lehmann's on field leadership even though he was neither captain or vice. With Waugh gone, this aspect now comes into play even more.

[commonwombat]

Point acknowledged, Donny. It's not that I do not respect Lehmann but he has never been an assured selction, vice captaincy or not.

The leadership issue is a valid point and undoubtedly Lehmann does contribute in this area. Waugh may be gone, but along with Ponting there still is Gilchrist, the returning Warne in this area notwithstanding the other experienced players.

Katich is one who's leadership capabilities have been noted and if he can establish himself in the side may be interesting to follow in this regard. May I say it again, the leadership matter is a factor but may indeed be slightly overstated; they haven't done a full purge of the side have they ?

[CQ]

[JLC]

I hope everyone saw where the "Liability" finished in the one day award.

As for Lehmann how many votes were against the "minnows" ?? How many votes were against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Kenya, Namibia, Netherlands and the West Indies??

When Lehmann performs against a decent country then he will rise in the credibility stakes.

jlc

[Donny]

What's your problem with this "Liability" stuff, JLC ? Lee was brought back prematurely, bowled like it and was criticised. Apart from his ill discipline (the constant no balling) the fault lay with the selectors and both his captains.

Williams was clearly the better bowler, on form, going into the Sydney Test and yet both Lee and Bracken were selected ahead of him. The Indians feasted off them and it was only the heroics of Waugh and Katich which saved us from total embarrassment.

The one chance for Bracken to make an impact in the Sydney Test was to bowl him with the new ball and yet Lee was repeatedly used ahead of him, at the start of both innings and after breaks. Each time, he wasted the opportunity and Bracken was tossed the older ball.

Ponting also used Lee like he was the best bowler in the team in the early one dayers. He clearly wasn't.

Re. what you said about Lehmann. The other players also played against those teams you mentioned.

[JLC]

The point was Lee was one of the best plaeys for Australia in one day cricket and therefore didnt deserved to be dropped. Why should Lee be punished for bad performances in test match cricket by being dropped in one day cricket ?? Thats just silly.

jlc