Australian pace bowling stalwart Mitchell Starc and women's all-rounder of Indigenous origin Ashleigh Gardner were rewarded for their consistent performances at the annual Australian Cricket Awards, emerging the country's leading male and female players for 2021.

Starc, whose all-round performance during the recently concluded Ashes was the key to the hosts winning the series 4-0, became just the fifth pace bowler in 22 years to win the Allan Border Medal as the country's leading male cricketer, edging out Mitchell Marsh by one vote. The 24-year-old Gardner became the first Indigenous person to win the Belinda Clark Award as the country's leading female player.