Steve Smith swept Australia’s annual awards ceremony on Tuesday, winning three prizes including the Allan Border Medal for the Player of the Year. Steve Smith has capped an incredible 12-month rise by winning his first Allan Border Medal for best Australian cricketer of the past year.
Sean Abbott, the bowler Australia rallied around following the Phillip Hughes tragedy, was named the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year at the Allan Border Medal ceremony.
Stand-in captain Steve Smith won the Allan Border Medal, beating David Warner and Mitchell Johnson. Smith also claimed the Test player of the year award and the ODI player of the year award, completing a clean sweep in a remarkable season of personal success. The Belinda Clark Medal was awarded to Victoria and Southern Stars batter, Meg Lanning, ahead of Ellyse Perry, and Glenn Maxwell was named T20 player of the year.
Smith admitted that, as he sat among his teammates, peers and former greats of the game during this evening’s Border Medal presentation ceremony, he finally had an opportunity to reflect on some of the defining moments of a transformational year.
Smith became the third player to win all three major men’s awards – the Medal, the Test and ODI Player of the Year – a feat that was achieved by Ricky Ponting in 2007 and Shane Watson in 2011.
Smith Quotes:
“I definitely feel like I’m a lot more confident now than I was then. I feel as though my preparation has been really good over the last while, like I’m hitting the ball as well as I ever have. You’ve got to try to be as confident as you can walking out to the middle” – Steve Smith
“I thought I’d be up there with a couple of them, I certainly didn’t think I’d be collecting the one-day, the Test and the AB Medal,” Smith said after his triple success.
“I thought I’d be in the top three with Mitchell Johnson and David Warner so I’m just really pleased to have been able to receive these awards.
“I’ve joined a pretty illustrious group of players who have come before me.”
View the full winners’ list from the 2015 AB Medal awards ceremony
ALLAN BORDER MEDAL WINNERS
Allan Border Medal: Steve Smith
Test Player of the Year: Steve Smith
ODI Player of the Year: Steve Smith
Twenty20 Player of the Year: Glenn Maxwell
Belinda Clarke Award: Meg Lanning
Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year: Sean Abbott
Domestic Player of the Year: Jason Berendorff
AB Medal winners" list - Steve Smith wins Allan Border Medal
