Cricket fans call for change to Allan Border Medal ceremony after 'sad' Travis Head scenes

Aussie cricket fans have echoed Allan Border's claim the Australian Cricket Awards ceremony should go back to its traditional format after Travis Head won the honour at a low-key event. Head pipped Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc in a close-finish to mark the second time he has won the Allan Border Medal.

Incredibly, Starc finished three votes behind Head in the final standings despite having ditched one of the three international formats. Although few could argue Head didn't deserve the award after his cavalier move to the top of the order during the Ashes series.

Head's back-to-back medals means he joins an elite group of Aussie cricketers to have won the honour multiple times. Only Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Steve Smith and David Warner have done so since the ceremony started in 2000.

Unfortunately, it is the ceremony part that had Aussie cricket fans baffled. When the Allan Border Medal ceremony first started, it was the talk of the Aussie cricket calendar with big name hosts running the night.

This year's Allan Border Medal was delayed close to six months so the cricketers could be in the room for it. The growing demands of T20, ODI and Test cricket has meant it is harder to schedule an awards night around the international competitions.

While normally hosted in Melbourne, this awards night was held in Brisbane ahead of the Test series against Bangladesh. And Head won the award, not in a black tie suit to fit the occasion, but in casual clothes.

The low-key event saw Head win the award in front of his peers with the man Allan Border there to present the medal. Head said it was an honour for Border to hand him the medal. Although fans felt the ceremony fell way short of what it should considering the significance of the award.

The medal is considered the highest honour an Aussie cricketer can win across the season. To have it at a low-key event where fans are ultimately on the periphery didn't sit right with observers.

While it may be increasingly difficult for Cricket Australia to gather all the players in one room, Aussie cricket fans called for a return to the more glitz and glamour ceremony. Border, who was in attendance to hand Head the award, has recently claimed he would like to see the ceremony go back towards tradition.

Travis Head's numbers to win Allan Border Medal

Head only narrowly pipped Carey to the award with the wicketkeeper/batter producing a career-best season. Carey finished with 1,079 runs in 24 games across all formats. Although Head managed to also produce stunning numbers.

The 32-year-old made 30 appearances for Australia across both the white and red-ball formats and scored 1,437 runs. Arguably the biggest moment was when he moved to opener in the Ashes to belt 123 from 83 balls to guide Australia to a stunning victory.

Since then Head hasn't moved from the opening role having struck up a partnership with Jake Weatherald. Head is set to open the batting with Weatherald in the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh.

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