Who Will Win The Allan Border Medal This Year?

I know that it must be the talk of the sporting world. Who will win the Allan Border Medal this year - Cricket Australia's version of the Best and Fairest without necessarily being the fairest. So, who has been the outstanding Australian cricketer of the last year.

Ricky Ponting?
Michael Clarke?
Mitchell Johnson?
Brad Haddin?
Mike Hussey?

Nah, it's Shane Watson. By the width of the flooded Brisbane River. He will romp it in. Considering that he's played all three versions of the game - Test, ODI and T20 (not so much Sheffield Shield) - and done well in each. Most players don't play all forms so he will be hard to beat.

But does anyone really deserve this honour this year? I'll be at the final ODI of the seven match series between Australia and England (& Wales) tomorrow at the WACA. With the number of withdrawals, to attend the medal presentation in Melbourne on Monday night, and England's injuries it looks more like Australia B vs England A. Michael Clarke and Shane Watson will be rested for the final ODI ahead of the medal presentation. Does that indicate that they are serious about playing for their country?

Well, maybe I'm being too harsh. But if you want to be the best player for your country you should at least be playing for your country. And Clarke needs the batting practice more than anyone. Which idiot did the scheduling anyway. Who would play a match in Sydney followed by a game in Perth which is one day before a medal presentation in Melbourne being hosted two days before the team flies out to India/Sri Lanka/Bangladesh for the World Cup? Honestly. You'd think that nobody has any planning skills in this country.