Travis Head wins second straight Allan Border Medal, edges Alex Carey by one vote

Travis Head became only the fifth Australian to win the Allan Border Medal in consecutive years when he was awarded the honour at Friday's ceremony, finishing one vote ahead of Alex Carey and three votes clear of Mitchell Starc.

He received his second successive medal from former Australia captain Allan Border, making the occasion particularly special for the 32-year-old. "I felt very privileged and honoured to have 'AB' in the room. That's the difference from last year's presentation in Sri Lanka, is having him there to present it," Head said, as quoted by cricket.com.au. The award capped another prolific year for Head: he finished the voting period as Australia's leading Test run-scorer while also topping the ODI batting charts, and he added, "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's Test form featured prominently in the judges' assessment. He struck 163 in the New Year's Test at the SCG — his third century of the Ashes series after an unexpected move to the opening position — and also scored 123 in Perth and 170 in Adelaide.

His impact extended into white-ball cricket, with a 142 against South Africa in an ODI at Mackay underlining his cross-format contributions. Those performances across both formats ensured he remained at the centre of Australia's batting plans.

By securing back-to-back Allan Border Medals, Head joined a select group of Australians to achieve consecutive wins. Steve Smith and Nathan Lyon are also multiple winners of the Allan Border Medal, while Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, David Warner and Shane Watson previously won the award in consecutive years.

Other individual awards at the ceremony included Mitchell Starc claiming the Shane Warne Men's Test Player of the Year and being recognised for his Ashes haul of 31 wickets; Starc also produced a 6 for 9 with a pink Dukes ball in Jamaica. Mitchell Marsh was named Australia's ODI Player of the Year and Tim David collected the T20I Player of the Year award.

The women's Belinda Clark Medal had already been presented to Annabel Sutherland in February, with Cricket Australia unable to stage a combined formal awards night because of the overlapping schedules of the men's and women's teams.

For Head, though, the night belonged to a player who has now turned back-to-back recognition into a place among Australia's elite award winners.