Australia’s all-rounder Annabel Sutherland has won the Belinda Clark Award, the top honor for women cricketers in Australia, for the second consecutive year. She is the first player to achieve this since former captain Meg Lanning in 2014 and 2015. Current coach Shelly Nitschke holds the record for the most awards, with four wins from 2009 to 2012. Karen Rolton and Lisa Sthalekar have also won it in back-to-back years.
Sutherland won the award by a slim margin, receiving 77 votes compared to Beth Mooney’s 74, with Alana King finishing third with 56 votes.
The award period included the Women’s ODI World Cup and Australia’s limited-overs series against New Zealand (three T20Is) and India (three ODIs) before the World Cup. Sutherland took 27 wickets with an average of 15.63 and scored 250 runs at an average of 41.66 across all formats.
“It was definitely a surprise, but it’s a huge honor, and I’m very grateful to win the Belinda Clark Award – named after a legend of the game,” Sutherland said. “I aim to contribute consistently to this team and to our success. We are all looking forward to the upcoming series against India, starting with the first T20 International tonight.”
In addition to her award, Sutherland also received the 2026 ODI Player of the Year title, while Mooney was named T20 Player of the Year, scoring 166 runs at an average of 83 in the series against New Zealand. Leg-spinner King, who ranked third in voting, took 13 wickets during the ODI World Cup.
Meanwhile, former Australia captain Alex Blackwell was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame on February 15. She played 12 Tests, 144 ODIs, and 95 T20Is from 2003 to 2018. Blackwell led Australia to their first T20 World Cup victory in 2010 and was part of the ODI World Cup-winning teams in 2005 and 2013.
