"I'm a bit fat at times and I love a beer but you see the best in me always and you've changed my life," he said. "For your support and your leadership, Patty, playing under you is a dream."

"I often spoke to my wife about...," Marsh said before having to collection himself "... that I just wanted to get one more crack at it, and it's been amazing. She gave me the perspective on life that I needed."

Overall during the voting period, which runs from January 22, 2023 to January 9, 2024, Marsh scored 594 runs in six Tests at 66. In ODIs, he hit 858 runs at 47.66, and had a strike rate of 113.94. He will also have gained points for his prolific T20I series against South Africa during which he hit 92* and 79* out of three innings.

He polled a massive 79 more votes than second-placed Cummins in the overall medal tally, with Steven Smith at third.

"I'm sort of hoping me winning this is not like Covid and you look back on it and three years time and go, 'This was a weird time'," Marsh joked. "One of my friends sent me the list today and I just thought - if I win it's going to look weird."

In ODIs across the voting period, Gardner claimed 20 wickets at 18.55, while in T20Is, including Australia's title-winning run at the World Cup in 2023, she got 19 wickets at 22.73 with an economy rate of 7.49. With the bat, she averaged 33.16 in ODIs, and 24.10 - with a strike rate of 118.13 - in T20Is.

"It's been an interesting year," Gardner said. "Think a lot of people probably think I'm more of a batter, or batting allrounder, but over the last 12-24 months think my bowling has probably evolved a lot quicker than what I was thinking. I've put a lot of trust in my captain to bring me on at different times and being able to reap those rewards of taking wickets has been a nice change."

To emphasise how close the Belinda Clark count was, Perry took both the individual white-ball honours after a stellar year in ODIs and T20Is - the latter where she has taken her batting to a new level.

Domestic cricket

Among the rest of the domestic cricket scene, the voting period covered December 5, 2022 to December 5, 2023.

Villani, meanwhile, led Tasmania to a second WNCL title, scoring 627 runs at 69.67 with a top score of 112, including striking a century in the dramatic victory over South Australia to clinch the title.

Award winners

Allan Border Medal: Mitchell Marsh
Belinda Clark Award: Ashleigh Gardner
Shane Warne Men's Test Player of the Year: Nathan Lyon
Men's ODI Player of the Year: Mitchell Marsh
Women's ODI Player of the Year: Ellyse Perry
Women's T20I Player of the Year: Ellyse Perry
Men's T20I Player of the Year: Jason Behrendorff
BBL Player of the Tournament: Matt Short
WBBL Player of the Tournament: Chamari Athapaththu
Men's Domestic Cricketer of the Year: Cameron Bancroft
Women's Domestic Cricketer of the Year: Sophie Day and Elyse Villani
Bradman male Young Cricketer of the Year: Fergus O'Neill
Betty Wilson female Young Cricketer of the Year: Emma de Broughe