A day after the tinseltown polish of the Academy Awards, red-carpet arrivals at the Allan Border Medal offered a different smattering of stars - with at least one notable similarity.
Like Cate Blanchett and Jessica Alba at the Oscars, Rianna Ponting accessorised her gown with a new baby bump.
Her husband, the Australian captain Ricky Ponting, used the standard method of confirming the pregnancy - with a protective hand to her belly region. The arrival of their first child could pose a scheduling problem, with the team due to tour India late in the year.
The awards are touted by Cricket Australia as the game's answer to Australian football's Brownlow Medal and rugby league's Dally M Awards night. But with most cricket players dating women with real jobs, rather than MAWs (model, actor, whatever), last night's event at Melbourne's Crown Casino was never destined to be the tangerine-tan, nipple-tape overload affair of its footy counterparts. The apparent snubbing by Channel Nine - which bumped the broadcast of the event to 10.30pm - did little to dampen the dress-up spirits of cricket's WAGs (wives and girlfriends).
Elsewhere it was blondes on parade. Liz Lee, better half of the night's big winner, Brett, couldn't decide between ruffles or patterns. Lara Bingle - still a G but rumoured to soon become a W to Michael Clarke - dressed the part in a sultry satin number, while Shane Watson's partner, Lee Furlong, channelled Jessica Rabbit in a glittering gown.
- EMILY DUNN and ELICIA MURRAY