New Delhi, 15 February (H.S.): Australia's star allrounder Annabel Sutherland has been honored with the prestigious Belinda Clark Award 2026, the highest individual accolade for a female cricketer in the country. This marks her second successive triumph in the award.
Cricket Australia announced on Sunday that Sutherland secured the award with 77 votes, edging out Beth Mooney who garnered 74 votes, while Alana King finished third with 56 votes. Due to congested international schedules for both men's and women's teams, the traditional Australian Cricket Awards ceremony was not held; instead, Sutherland received her honor in a special presentation at the SCG Members Long Room.
Sutherland also clinched the ODI Player of the Year award for her outstanding contributions. Beth Mooney was named T20I Player of the Year, and Nicola Carey earned Domestic Player of the Year recognition.
Sutherland becomes only the fifth woman to win consecutive Belinda Clark Awards, joining Karen Rolton (2002-03, 2005-06), Lisa Sthalekar (2007-08), Shelley Nitschke (2009-12), and Meg Lanning (2014-15). Over the past year, she claimed 27 wickets at an average of 15.63 and scored 250 runs at 41.66 across formats, exemplifying her allround prowess.
Expressing gratitude, Sutherland described joining the list of greats as profoundly special and surreal. I'm deeply thankful to receive this from Belinda Clark herself, and it's gratifying to know my contributions aided the team's success over the last 12 months, she stated.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
