Former Australia skipper Allan Border has said that left-handed batsman David Warner deserved to win the top cricket prize in the country, the Allan Border medal.
Warner won his third Allan Border medal on Monday, and as soon as the name was read out, many people started to argue whether the opening batsman deserved to win the accolade.
The 33-year-old had a torrid time in last year's Ashes as he managed to score just 95 runs from ten innings. However, during the home summer against Pakistan and New Zealand, Warner changed his fortunes around to come back to run-scoring ways.
"There was a sense of surprise when the final name was readout. But I think there were three or four very good contenders, with Smith and Pat Cummins in particular, Mitchell Starc, even Nathan Lyon had a fantastic 12 months," Fox News quoted Border as saying.
"But David Warner, with the way the votes were, came out on top. Very close margin but I think a deserved winner. He had a fantastic 12 months apart from that Ashes series, where Steve Smith was unbelievable. That's why the voting was very, very close," he added.
However, Border suggested that the voting system for the Allan Border medal can be reassessed.
"It's very difficult to rank away Test matches against home Test matches. I have heard a little bit of argument about all that and it has some merit. There's no doubt about that," Border said.
"Maybe the voting system can be looked at. We've been going for 21 years, it's probably time to have just a look at how the votes are put together and how it's all combined over the three, four months of the game for that final winner.Maybe it is timely to have a bit of a look at that voting system," he added.
Warner had previously won the Allan Border medal in 2016 and 2017. The left-handed opening batsman was suspended in 2018 for one year for his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal against South Africa.
He was also named as Australia's T20I Men's Player of the Year.
Warner will next be seen in action against South Africa in three T20Is and as many ODIs.
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