Annabel Sutherland admits that 2025-26 will be a season tinged with the disappointment of World Cup elimination, despite joining an exclusive club, including Meg Lanning, as a back-to-back winner of the Belinda Clark Medal.
Sutherland was handed the award by Clark in a low-key ceremony with the rest of the Australian team on Sunday morning, after Cricket Australia were unable to find a date in the calendar to host the customary shared awards night with the men’s Allan Border Medal.
Annabel Sutherland with back-to-back Belinda Clark medals.Credit: Cricket Australia
Having interviewed for the Australian captaincy role that ultimately went to fellow all-rounder Sophie Molineux, Sutherland said that the growing competitiveness of the women’s game around the world had left her eager to keep improving after Australia failed to make a global final for the second tournament in a row.
“It’s hard to go past the way the World Cup finished with where the team sat in the result we got there,” Sutherland said on Sunday. “I put a lot of emphasis on that World Cup, getting ready over the last couple of years.
“That was the focus in my preparation, how was I going to contribute to wins for Australia and I felt like I was able to do that with the ball throughout that tournament and in bits with the bat too. But [it’s] tough to reflect on, given the way the Cup turned out.
“[It’s] a special feeling and super grateful to receive the award from BC. Nice to know I’ve contributed to the team’s success over the last 12 months.”
Karen Rolton, Shelley Nitschke, Lisa Sthalekar and Lanning are the previous players to have scooped the award in consecutive years, and Sutherland (77 votes) took this one out narrowly ahead of Beth Mooney (74).
Spinner Alana King finished third with 55 votes, highlighting the controversial decision to leave her out of the T20 side to face India, with the top five rounded out by Ash Gardner (54 votes) and Phoebe Litchfield (43).
“Meg’s an absolute superstar, and if I could be half as good as what she’s done for the game then I’d be pretty stoked,” Sutherland said. “It’s been pretty cool, especially as a Victorian, to play alongside her, play under her when she’s been captain and learn from the way she’s gone about it.”
Sutherland took a break from the women’s Indian Premier League after the rigours of the Cup immediately followed by the WBBL, and said she was looking forward to seeing Molineux in action after she was announced as Alyssa Healy’s captaincy successor.
“She’s an outstanding leader from what I’ve seen in the Victorian set-up, and I know the Renegades girls can’t speak highly enough of her,” Sutherland said. “Most importantly, she’s just an outstanding person, and she has an ability to bring people together.
“People want to be around her, she’s got great energy and, most importantly, brings the best out of people. She’s been able to do that without being captain or vice-captain in the last couple of years. She has a presence about her, and I can’t wait to see the way she’s going to take this group forward.”
As for the lack of a set-piece awards night, Sutherland said there would still be celebrations provided the Australians could beat India in the opening game of their T20 series at the SCG later on Sunday.
“It’s pretty tough to find that date,” she said. “It looked different. Still, [it was] special to have BC there and do it in front of the team.
“It’d be nice to get the whole Australian cricket world together to celebrate, but it wasn’t to be this year. Hopefully we can celebrate with a win tonight and have a couple quiet ones in the change room after, that would be nice.”
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