Australia’s Usman Khawaja won the inaugural Shane Warne Men’s Test Player of the Year Award. This award is the Usman’s most recent achievement after being named in the ICC Test Team of the Year alongside Australian teammates Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, and Marnus Labuschagne last week.
The winner of the Shane Warne Men's Test Player of the Year…
Usman Khawaja! #AusCricketAwards pic.twitter.com/AFcJUM4PNg
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Shane Warne Men’s Test Player of the Year award, introduced by Cricket Australia (CA) after their legendary cricketer’s demise last year, was won by Khawaja for his stellar performance in Australian whites. Khawaja had won by 22 votes and defeated Marnus Labuschagne (20) and Steve Smith (16) in the race.
The votes come from the players, umpires, and Media. This award was the first major honor presented at the 2023 Australian Cricket Awards.
For the past 12 months, the player has shown a super performance in several matches. Since returning to the Test side in January last year, Khawaja has been Australia’s leading run-scorer in the five-day format, accumulating 1020 runs at 78.46 during the voting period.
Gotta love Ussie's confidence! 😅
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When he received his award, Khawaja had plenty to say. “I honestly thought that game at the SCG. I always thought it could be my last game. I was playing it as my last game,” Khawaja said. “It’s funny when you play with that kind of mindset how things can actually work out. I was just worried about getting off the mark and doing the process right and trying to win the game for the team. Life’s very funny at times,” he added.
When Khawaja played for the Australian team’s tour to Pakistan, he registered scores of 97, 160, 44 not out, 92, and 104 not out during the tour.
In addition to recalling his games, the player also made playful jokes about his teammates before turning his attention to his family and delivering touching tributes. He also thanked cricket fans – because “The People’s Champ has to thank the fans”.
Khawaja concluded his speech with, “I finally feel like not only my teammates but Australia as a country and as a cricketing organization is finally respecting me as the person, the beliefs I have. I love where we’ve been and where we’re going. I love where we’ve come over the last 10 to 15 years and hopefully, over the next 10 to 15 years, we can be even further.
Aside from cricket awards, Khawaja also won the Community Impact Award for his work off the field. The Australian opener’s Usman Khawaja Foundation helps young people from disadvantaged communities by providing educational and cricketing opportunities.
In addition to Usman Khawaja, other awardees for the Australian Cricket Awards 2023 include David Warner for Men’s ODI Player of the Year and returning opener Usman Khawaja as the Men’s Test Player of the Year. All-rounder Marcus Stoinis also bagged the Men’s T20I Player of the Year.
It was in December 2022 that the Men’s Test Player of the Year award became the Shane Warne Men’s Test Player of the Year award. In 2022, the winner was Travis Head, he was the first South Australian to take out the Test Player of the Year Award.