Named in honor of the legendary spinner Shane Wrane, who passed away last march, Usman Khawaja got 22 votes and defeated Marnus Labuschagne (20) and Steve Smith (16) in the race. He was the favorite after an impressive year in the Test Format. He has been exceptional after rejoining the Test team in January 2022.
Shane Warne Men's Test Player of the Year: Usman Khawaja
Usman Khawaja entered the squad during the Ashes series due to Travis Head's injury. During his acceptance speech, Khawaja thanked Travis Head for making way from the Australian team in a sarcastic way. Since Ashes, Khawaja has been brilliant for Australia. He is Australia's Top Run Scorer in the 5-day format in 2022 with 1020 runs at an average of 78.46.
He smashed an Undefeated 195 runs against South Africa in the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) & ended the voting debate. This was his third consecutive Test Century there. The Queenslander was unstoppable in Pakistan, his country of birth, registering scores of 97, 160, 44 not out, 92 and 104 not out during the historic tour.
Khawaja was also selected for the ICC Test Team of the Year alongside his teammates Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon & Marnus Labuschagne.
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The votes contain the votes from the players, umpires, and Media. Australia played 17 matches during the voting Period. This award was the first major honour presented at the 2023 Australian Cricket Awards.
Khawaja earlier in the night also won the Community Impact Award for his work off the field. The Australian opener's Foundation helps young people from disadvantaged communities by providing educational and cricketing opportunities.
Shane Warne Test Player of the Year: Last 5 Years Winner
- 2018 – Steve Smith
- 2019 – Nathan Lyon
- 2020 – Marnus Labuschagne
- 2021 – Pat Cummins
- 2022 – Travis Head