Veteran Khawaja in running for AB Medal

Veteran Australia Test opener Usman Khawaja could become a shock winner of the Allan Border medallist as a one-format player.

USMAN KHAWAJA of Australia celebrates after reaching his century during the Fifth Test match in the 2017/18 Ashes Series between Australia and England at SCG in Sydney, Australia.
USMAN KHAWAJA of Australia celebrates after reaching his century during the Fifth Test match in the 2017/18 Ashes Series between Australia and England at SCG in Sydney, Australia. Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Resurgent Australia veteran Usman Khawaja shapes as a genuine chance to become an Allan Border medallist as a one-format player.

The Test opener will enter Monday night's Australian Cricket awards with an opportunity to create history and take out the top award.

Khawaja's career-best 2022 puts him firmly in contention to win the AB Medal, even though he did not feature in any white-ball cricket for Australia.

The 36-year-old will almost certainly take out the Shane Warne award as the men's Test player of the year after belting 1080 runs in 2022 at an average of 67.50.

Khawaja was named as an opener in the ICC's Test team of the year.

But Travis Head and Pat Cummins have impressed in Tests and play white-ball cricket, giving them a major advantage over Khawaja.

Four of Head's best seven Test scores came in 2022 and he also dominated in ODIs against Sri Lanka and England.

Cummins, who added the ODI captaincy in October to his duties as Test skipper, performed consistently across all three formats and that could give him the edge.

Meanwhile, the Belinda Clark Award appears Beth Mooney's to lose after the star batter dominated a big year for Australia's women's team.

Mooney was a constant as Australia won the ODI World Cup, a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games and comfortably won on their tour of India.

Captain Meg Lanning took an extended break in August, only recently returning to the national set-up for matches at home against Pakistan.

Fellow stars Ellyse Perry and Alyssa Healy dealt with injuries and were below their sparkling best for periods of the voting period.