Annabel Sutherland Wins Back-to-Back Belinda Clark Awards in Cricket

The 24-year-old all-rounder was named Australia's premier women's cricketer at a presentation at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday, polling 77 votes to edge out two-time recipient Beth Mooney by three.

With scheduling clashes between the men's and women's programmes disrupting the traditional awards night, Sutherland received the honour from Belinda Clark in the SCG Members' Long Bar before Australia's evening training session.

Sutherland's influence extended beyond the headline award. She was also named ODI Player of the Year, underscoring her impact during a demanding stretch of overseas fixtures.

Mooney, meanwhile, claimed the T20I Player of the Year award after finishing level on votes with opening partner Georgia Voll, then prevailing on countback. Australia featured in only three T20Is during the voting window, all in New Zealand, where Mooney scored 166 runs at 83 with a strike rate of 167, earning player-of-the-series honours. It marked her fourth T20I award since the introduction of the award in 2019, a reflection of her sustained excellence in the game's shortest format.

Over the 12-month voting period, Australia contested 13 white-ball matches - all away from home - including 10 ODIs across the series in India and the subsequent World Cup campaign.

Sutherland emerged as one of Australia's most dependable performers at the ODI World Cup. She topped Australia's wicket-taking charts in the 50-over format and finished second overall in the tournament with 17 scalps at 15.82. Her unbeaten 98 against England further underscored her value as a genuine all-rounder.

In total, Sutherland took 27 wickets at 15.63 across formats and scored 250 runs at an average of 41.66.

Her achievement places her alongside an elite group of multiple-time winners: Karen Rolton, Lisa Sthalekar, Shelley Nitschke and Meg Lanning.

"It's pretty special to be alongside a few of those names ... it's pretty cool and very surreal at the moment. I'm super grateful to receive the award from 'BC' (Clark), and just grateful and nice to know that I've contributed to the team's success over the last 12 months," Sutherland was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

However, the accolade brings mixed feelings after Australia's semi-final loss at the World Cup, a tournament that influenced much of Sutherland's recent preparation.

"It's hard to go past the way the World Cup finished, in terms of where the team sat in the result we got there. I put a lot of emphasis on that World Cup ... and over the last couple of years that was the focus in my preparation, on how was I going to contribute to wins for Australia," she added.

"I felt like I was able to do that with the ball throughout that tournament, and in bits with the bat too. But it's a tough one to reflect on given the way the World Cup finished up," she stated.

Mooney delivered an exceptional World Cup performance, rescuing Australia with a century against Pakistan and ending as the team's top scorer. Leg-spinner Alana King also had a remarkable tournament, including a national-record 7-18 versus South Africa, which earned her third place in the Belinda Clark Award voting.

International awards are decided through a voting system involving players, umpires, and media representatives, who assign points on a 3-2-1 basis after each match. These votes carry different weights: double for Tests and triple for ODIs, compared to T20Is, before the Belinda Clark Award winner is selected. In case of a tie, the player with the most three-vote performances wins.

Australia did not feature in a Test match during the 2026 voting period.

- IANS