Australia cricketers to wear retro golden helmets for the first time in nearly two decades

Australia are set to take the cricket fans across the world down the memory lane. They will be donning the iconic and famous golden helmets of the 90s for the first time in two decades in next month’s ODI Series against New Zealand. The helmet will further add an extra dash of retro goodness to the throwback series.

Earlier, Cricket Australia had announced that the players will wear a replica kit from the team’s 1999 World Cup triumph. Australian players had donned the golden helmets for more than two decades after their debut during World Series Cricket in the late 1970s. The team from down under had ditched the golden helmets for the green ones following the 2000-01 home tri-series against the West Indies and Zimbabwe.

Australia debuted the green helmets on home soil in the summer of 2001-02.  Cricket Australia decided to change the kits for the upcoming series after an online poll. The cricket board carried out the polls through cricket.com.au and its social media channels. They put a total of eight throwback kits in a knockout bracket and, after nearly half a million votes were cast, the bright yellow 1999 uniform emerged as the clear-cut winner.

This will be the second year in a row in which Australia will don retro ODI uniforms. The players had donned a green and gold kit against India in January last year that closely resembled a strip worn by the Allan Border-led side in the mid-80s.

Meanwhile, along with Australia, New Zealand Cricket also carried out the same voting procedure. The New Zealand fans then voted for the return of the team’s famous ‘teal fern’ uniform from the late 1990s. The ODI series between the arch-rivals will get underway on March 13 in Sydney.

Australia cricket awards

Ahead of the series against New Zealand, Australia held their annual cricket awards on Monday night. Opening batsman David Warner won the Allan Border medal, the highest individual award for a male cricketer in Australia. In women’s cricket, Ellyse Perry won the equivalent award, bagging the prestigious Belinda Clark medal.

Warner also won the T20I player of the year award while Marnus Labuschagne became Australia’s Test player of the year. The limited-overs captain Aaron Finch was adjudged the ODI player of the year.