Travis Head wins Allan Border medal 2026: All the winners from Australian cricket awards listed

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KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Travis Head wins back-to-back Allan Border Medals by one vote in the Australian Cricket Awards.

Mitchell Starc claims the Test award, Mitchell Marsh the ODI, and Tim David wins his maiden T20I gong.

Head becomes the fifth player to win consecutive AB Medals in history.

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Travis Head pips Alex Carey to Allan Border Medal in a tight finish

Travis Head has cemented his place among Australian cricket's elite, after he became only the fifth player to claim back-to-back Allan Border Medals after edging out close friend Alex Carey in a razor-thin count that came down to a single vote.

The star batter received his second consecutive AB Medal directly from Allan Border himself at a function held in Brisbane on Friday evening.

Mitchell Starc was handed the Shane Warne Men's Test Player of the Year honour by the late spinner's father, Keith Warne, while Mitchell Marsh and Tim David picked up the ODI and T20I awards respectively at a low-key gathering overlooking the Brisbane River.

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The final tally showed just how close the race actually was, with Head finishing on 153 votes, narrowly ahead of Carey's 152, while Starc wasn't far behind on 150. Steve Smith and Mitchell Marsh rounded out the top five with 96 and 86 votes respectively.

Travis Head 153 votes

Alex Carey 152 votes

Mitchell Starc 150 votes

Steve Smith 96 votes

Mitchell Marsh 86 votes

(getty)

Which Australian players have won back-to-back Allan Border Medals?

With this win, Head now joins teammates Steve Smith, a four-time winner between 2015 and 2023, and Nathan Lyon, who won in 2019 and 2024, as multiple AB Medal recipients.

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He also enters exclusive company alongside Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, David Warner and Shane Watson as players who've won the award in consecutive years.

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Speaking after the ceremony, Head described feeling privileged to have Border present in the room, calling it the key difference compared to last year's presentation, which took place in Sri Lanka.

"(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 said afterwards.

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"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.To win an Ashes series is incredible and to have an opportunity to maybe win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy away, to win an Ashes away and to win (an ODI) World Cup away in South Africa later next year, that's all I'm solely worried about.

"First, we've got to play really well against Bangladesh next week, we got a huge opportunity against South Africa, and then we play in New Zealand who are playing exceptionally good cricket. Our work is going to be cut out. I'm just pleased to be playing well, and let's hope it continues."

LIST: All the winners from Australian cricket awards

Starc's remarkable consistency across Australia's 11 Tests during the period, headlined by a devastating 6 for 9 with the pink ball in Jamaica and a haul of 31 Ashes wickets, secured him his second Test Player of the Year award.

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In the T20I category, Tim David's outstanding form throughout Australia's strong run of bilateral series, played before the T20 World Cup began, earned him his first individual award.

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Marsh claimed the ODI Player of the Year award for the second time in three years. It is a remarkable achievement given that he featured in just six of the ten eligible matches.

After having missed the Champions Trophy in February 2025 due to a back complaint, he returned to lead the side in home series against South Africa and India, averaging over 60 across those appearances.

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