Star Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh beat ODI World Cup winning-captain and ICC Cricketer Of The Year Pat Cummins in the race to win the Allan Border Medal At the Cricket Australia Awards on January 31 (Wednesday). The 32-year-old was declared the winner of the award which takes player, media and umpire votes into consideration, giving more importance to performances in the game's purest format.
Marsh received 223 votes, 79 more than Cummins who finished second on the list with 144 votes to his name. Steven Smith came a close third. The ex-Australian skipper had 141 votes to his name. With Marsh being named the winner of the award, he becomes the first all-rounder in over a decade to get the recognition. The last all-rounder who received the honour was Shane Watson who received it in 2011.
Marsh had a stellar 2023 across formats. He amassed 540 runs across 10 innings in Test matches, averaging 67.5. He went on to score a hundred in Ashes, while scoring four half-centuries. In addition, he proved to be a handy option with the ball in hand. Even in white-ball cricket, Marsh went on to lead Australia in the T20I series against South Africa, leading them to a clean sweep over the Proteas.
In the ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023, which Australia won, Marsh scored two hundreds including an unbeaten 177* against Bangladesh in Pune. Overall, he played 20 ODIs in the year, in which he accumulated 858 runs at an average exceeding 47. In the three T20Is that Marsh featured in 2023, Marsh scored 186 and will get to lead the T20I side against West Indies.
Mitchell Marsh Fights Tears In Medal-Accepting Speech
Marsh fought tears while he delivered the medal acceptance speech. He thanked the head coach Andrew McDonald and captain Pat Cummins for continuing to show faith in him.
"I really hadn’t really thought about it until a few of the boys started getting stuck into me that they thought I was going to win it, and then I started thinking maybe I’m a chance. I had four beers at lunch so had better stop there," Marsh said.
"To Ronny (McDonald) and Patty (Cummins), you believed in me and I can’t thank you enough. I’m a bit fat at times and I love a beer but you see the best in me always. You’ve changed my life," Marsh added.
He then went on to thank his wife Greta in his speech, the video of which has gone viral.
"Grets is an amazing human, I said in my wedding vows eight months ago she gave me the perspective on life I needed and our life is a lot of fun. If I get a duck or get a hundred, she’s always the same," the 32-year-old said.