David Warner beats Steve Smith by one vote to win Cricket Australia's highest honour 'Allan Border Medal'

David Warner, the Australian batsman, has bagged his third Allan Border Medal at Crown Palladium on Monday at the Australian Cricket Awards. Most importantly, he pipped Steve Smith, who had a stellar 2019, by one point to get his hands on the prestigious trophy. It was the closest battle for the award after the one between Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting in 2009 when the trophy was shared.

Warner didn’t have the greatest of outings in the Ashes, getting out to paceman Stuart Broad more often than not. But in the home Test against Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval, the southpaw turned up with an unbeaten triple-century. On the other hand, Smith shone in the Ashes, ending as the leading run-scorer despite missing a few innings due to the concussion he suffered at the Lord’s.

Warner shines in CA awards

During the voting period from January 8, 2019 to January 8, 2020, the 33-year-old Warner had amassed 1815 runs at an average of 69.81. On the other hand, during the same period, Smith could manage 1553 runs at an average of 62.12 with 11 half-centuries to show for his efforts. For the coveted Allan Border Medal, fast bowler Pat Cummins finished third with 185 votes.

Players, umpires and media awarded votes for the Allan Border Medal on a 3-2-1 basis. Warner also managed to win the T20I Player of the Year, beating last year’s winner Glenn Maxwell by three votes. Steve Smith and Kane Richardson finished as the joint-third with eight votes each. Warner was only dismissed once in his last six T20Is, scoring 287 runs at a strike-rate of 145.

Marnus Labuschagne became the Test Player of the Year, edging out Smith by three votes. After he was roped in as Smith’s substitute in the Lord’s Test, Labuschagne hasn’t looked back. On the backs on his shows with the bat, he also broke into the ICC’s top 10 batters without much fuss.

The youngster was recently rewarded with an ODI debut during the three-match series in India. Aaron Finch, the Australian limited-overs captain, became the ODI Player of the Year award. The Victorian beat Usman Khawaja by five votes with Warner finishing third, garnering 24 votes.