SYDNEY (AP) Abrasive opening batsman David Warner has been awarded the Allan Border Medal as Australia's cricket player of the year.
Warner tallied 240 votes to win the award for the first time from last year's winner, captain Steve Smith, who received 219 votes, and fast bowler Mitchell Starc with 183. He was also named test player of the year while Glenn Maxwell was one-day international player of the year.
Warner was called ''despicable'' by Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland in 2013 when he punched England batsman Joe Root in a Birmingham bar.
He credited his wife, Candace, with turning his career around. Warner said ''she really nailed into my head ... about being disciplined. I owe a lot of credit to her for keeping me on the straight and narrow.''
