From 2000 to 2025: Here’s the list of Allan Border Medal winners ft. Travis Head

Table of Contents

Allan Border Medal- an overview
Glenn McGrath: The inaugural winner
Ricky Ponting: The knight in the shining armour
Michael Clarke: Following Ponting’s legendary footsteps
Steve Smith: A modern-day legend
List of all recipients of the Allan Border medal

The Allan Border Medal is a prestigious award of Australian cricket. It is regarded as the highest individual honor in Australian men’s cricket. This year, Travis Head grabbed the coveted award for his exceptional batting prowess and ability to be a handy spin option for the team across all three formats of the game. Head, who is with the Australian squad for the 2-match Test series in Sri Lanka was presented with the medal by Andrew McDonald.

Head had a stellar season with the bat for his national side as he scored a remarkable 608 runs in 15 innings and played a crucial role in the team’s triumph in all the formats of the game. In the light of his current individual success, here is a list of all winners of the coveted Allan Border medal.

Allan Border Medal- an overview

Introduced in 2000, the medal is named in tribute to former Australian captain Allan Border and is awarded to the most exceptional male cricketer of the past year, as determined by votes from peers, the media, and umpires. Votes are cast after each match on a 3–2–1 scale, with a specific weighting system designed to ensure that both One Day International and Test players have an equal opportunity to win. This prestigious award highlights the cricketer who has demonstrated the most consistent and outstanding performance across all formats of the game.

Glenn McGrath: The inaugural winner

Glenn McGrath with his wife at the Cricket Australia's award ceremony in 2000. — Glenn McGrath with his wife at the Cricket Australia’s award ceremony in 2000 (Image Source: Getty)

Australia’s ace pacer Glenn McGrath was the inaugural winner of the prestigious medal after he had a stellar calendar year with the national team. He was a part of the triumphant Australian squad that won the 1999 ODI World Cup, and bagged 18 wickets during the tournament making him the 3rd highest wicket-taker in that world cup, only behind Geoff Allott and Shane Warne. The highlight of his World Cup campaign was the majestic spell he bowled in the final against Pakistan in which he took 2 wickets and gave away just 13 runs in his 10-over spell. Additionally, McGrath took a staggering 119 wickets in 41 matches across all formats in that calendar year, making him a suitable candidate for the inaugural Allan Border medal.

Ricky Ponting: The knight in the shining armour

Ponting with his wife at the Cricket Australia awards (Image Source: Getty)

Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting was the first to script history as a recipient of the Allan Border medal by winning the coveted award 4 times during the course of his career, a record only matched later on by Michael Clarke. The legendary skipper won his first medal in 2004 for his stellar performance in the 2003 World Cup enabling Australia to win their 3rd ODI Cricket World Cup by defeating India in the finals of the tournament.

Under the leadership of Ponting, Australia became the first and the only team so far to win the World Cup thrice. Ponting was also remarkable with the bat and emerged to be the 3rd highest run-scorer of the tournament with 415 runs to his name in 11 matches, behind Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.

Ponting won his second medal in 2006 for scoring 1588 runs in 15 matches across all formats of the game. His third triumph came in the year 2007 for leading the team through to reclaim the Ashes in the 2006-07 season and winning the 2007 World Cup for a record 4th time. Ponting was the leading run-scorer in the Ashes with 576 runs to his name in 8 innings. His final success to win the prestigious award came in the year 2009.

Also Read: Annabel Sutherland and Travis Head sweep top honours at the Australian Cricket Awards 2025

Michael Clarke: Following Ponting’s legendary footsteps

Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke as joint winners of the Allan Border Medal, 2009 (Image Source: X)

Clarke was another legendary Australian captain who managed to win the award four times during his time with the Australian team. Clarke won his first Allan Border Medal in 2005 for an impressive Ashes campaign as a youngster and debutant in the Australian team.

He was the joint winner of the medal along with Ponting in the year 2009 and won it again successively in the year 2012 and 2013 for his exceptional batting display during the two seasons. Clarke scored 1595 and 1093 runs respectively during the 2 seasons and created his place as a major batting sensation in the cricketing world.

Steve Smith: A modern-day legend

Steve Smith with his wife set to receive the Allan Border medal, 2018 (Image Source: X)

Steve Smith has also secured his place as someone who has also won multiple Allan Border medals. The 35-year-old won it for the first time in 2015 for scoring 1474 runs in 15 innings during the calendar year, cementing his place in the Australian team. Smith won it again in the year 2018 and the next one in the year 2021. The Australian batting legend won it for the 4th time in 2023 for his stellar performance in the 2023 ODI World Cup.