“I thought Starcy had an incredible year, I thought Kez [Carey] had a great year. I thought it could have been anyone’s,” Head told reporters. “I did think Starcy would win it, so I came here tonight pretty relaxed and not thinking that I would be close.”
Head is the sixth player to win the Allan Border Medal on multiple occasions after Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Steven Smith (four times), David Warner (three) and Shane Watson (two). Unlike last year, when Head was handed his medal by coach Andrew McDonald at a hotel in Galle, Border was on hand in Brisbane to present his second one, albeit in another low-key ceremony ahead of the team heading to Darwin.
“Very privileged and honoured to have someone like AB in the room,” Head said. “I think that’s probably the difference in the two of them, is having him there, having him present it. It’s something you look back on it and to have that in a picture frame later in your career, to sit there and think that I’ve got two medals and your kids can look at them and I can tell them how good I am 20 years’ time is pretty cool.
“It’s crazy to think you’re in that sort of category [of other winners]. I look back as a young kid and look what Smudge [Smith] did to go back-to-back through those years, and he piled on a lot more runs than what I did, certainly, and dominated world cricket a lot more than me, but it’s cool to have [wins against] India and England in there and have Ashes series in there.”
“Again, individual accolades and runs, and all those things I’ve never really been too worried about,” Head said. “That’s why I rocked up tonight not expecting anything. To win an Ashes series is incredible. To have an opportunity to maybe win a Border-Gavaskar away, to win an Ashes away, to win a World Cup away in South Africa later in the next year, that’s all I’m sorely worried about, but first we’ve got to play really well against Bangladesh next week.
“We’ve got a huge opportunity against South Africa, and then we play New Zealand, who are playing exceptionally good cricket. So our work’s going to be cut out. I’m just pleased to be playing well, and let’s hope it continues.”
The awards for international cricket are based on votes from players, umpires and media on a 3-2-1 basis from each match. The voting period was January 29, 2025 to January 24, 2026.
