Clarke wins top Australian award

Clarke pictured with his award at the ceremony in Melbourne

Michael Clarke was named Australia's cricketer of the year after winning the prestigious Allan Border medal.

Clarke followed in the footsteps of Steve Waugh, Glenn McGrath, Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting as the sixth annual winner.

He went close to winning the one-day player of the year award, losing on a countback to Andrew Symonds.

Damien Martyn won the Test player of the year award and Andy Bichel the state player of the year.

The medal is decided by players, umpires and the media, who vote on all of Australia's Test and one-day international cricket matches over the past year.

Symonds, out of form recently, has reason to smile with his ODI award

Clarke, who scored centuries on home and away debut Tests, said: "The last 12 months has been unbelieveable for me.

"There's going to come times when I do not score runs and I'm not going to perform, I'm going to drop catches, I'm going to miss run-outs.

"So I think I just need to keep enjoying this special time."

Meanwhile, Rod Marsh, director of the English cricket's National Academy, was inducted to the Australia cricket hall of fame.

The England and Wales Cricket Board said in a statement: "He has shown dedication, professionalism and flair in his significant contribution to English cricket.

"He is a superb ambassador for cricket across the world and we congratulate him on his latest achievement."

In other presentations on the night, Mark Cosgrove won the Bradman award as the nation's best young cricketer and Karen Rolton was named best woman cricketer.