Annabel Sutherland has been crowned the nation’s top female cricketer for 2026, winning the prestigious Belinda Clark Award for a second consecutive year.
The allrounder was outstanding in all formats throughout a season which included series victories against New Zealand and India away from home and a semi-final appearance at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in India.
Sutherland also claimed the 2026 ODI Player of the Year honour, with her dominant World Cup campaign sealing a second Belinda Clark Award.
Australia’s leading wicket taker in the 50-over format throughout the voting period, Sutherland was among Australia’s most reliable performers during the World Cup, finishing as the tournament’s second-highest wicket taker with 17 at 15.82 while contributing a high score of 98no against England.
Across all formats, Sutherland took 27 wickets at an average of 15.63 alongside 250 runs at an average of 41.66.
Sutherland polled 77 votes ahead of runner-up Beth Mooney (74) with Alana King (55) in third place.
Beth Mooney took out the T20I Player of the Year award on a countback having tied with Georgia Voll.
Mooney was named player of the series in New Zealand after scoring 166 runs at an average of 83 and strike rate of 167.
She also shone at the ODI World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, pulling Australia out of deep trouble with a century against Pakistan and finishing the tournament as her team’s top run scorer.
Alana King enjoyed a stellar World Cup campaign to finish third in the voting for the Belinda Clark Award.
The leg-spinner took an Australian record 7-18 against South Africa and completed the tournament with 13 wicket at 17.38.
Belinda Clark Award – Annabel Sutherland (77 votes)
2nd: Beth Mooney (74)
3rd: Alana King (55)
4th: Ashleigh Gardner (54)
5th: Phoebe Litchfield (42)
Women’s ODI Player of the Year – Annabel Sutherland
Women’s T20I Player of the Year – Beth Mooney
Upon accepting the award Annabel Sutherland said:
“It was definitely a surprise but it’s a huge honour and I’m very grateful to win the Belinda Clark Award – an award named after a legend of the game.
“To know that I have contributed across the last couple of years is always the goal. I want to be able to consistently contribute to this team and to team success first and foremost.
“We are now all looking forward to the upcoming series against India, starting with the first T20 International tonight.
Voting Framework
The awards for international cricket are based on votes from players, umpires and media on a 3-2-1 basis from each match.
Votes are weighted to decide the Belinda Clark Award winner, with votes polled in Test matches worth twice those from ODI fixtures, and three times the T20I votes.
If players are tied for first place, a countback occurs with the player who received the most ‘three votes’ being awarded.
Australia did not play a Test in the 2026 voting period.
