Ricky Ponting is expected to become the first man to claim the Allan Border Medal twice, but tonight's medal presentation promises to be a nervous night for several teammates.
The Australian captain has had an outstanding year with the bat, a run of form that was capped off when he vaulted to the top of the International Cricket Council's batting rankings last month.
Ponting has posted more than 2600 runs at an average-topping 55 in 15 Tests and 29 limited-overs internationals from February last year.
He blasted seven hundreds and two double centuries, and became the first man to post centuries in both innings of his 100th Test.
While he is tipped to claim the top honour, he may not win either the Test or one-day international player of the year awards.
Shane Warne is favoured to be named Test player of the year after his 93 wickets, while Brett Lee and Mike Hussey will challenge strongly for the one-day award.
But Ponting's combined votes in both forms of the game are expected to get him across the line.
Former Australian captain Mark Taylor endorsed Ponting's claim to his second AB Medal. Ponting first won it in 2004.
"I think Shane will give Ricky a red-hot run for Test player of the year, but Ricky has been outstanding in both forms of the game, so he's going to be hard to knock off," Taylor said.
Veteran spearhead Glenn McGrath agreed.
"While Shane Warne will probably be named Test player of the year, and Brett Lee and Mike Hussey can expect to fight for the one-day player award, Ricky should earn enough votes to take home the AB Medal and become the first man to win it twice," McGrath said. "And there couldn't be a more deserving winner this year."
Vice-captain Adam Gilchrist expects a tight count.
"The obvious one is Ricky," Gilchrist said.
"Hussey, Lee and Ponting, I think, are going to be the big finishers.
"There is no actual stand-out this year, which makes it interesting leading into the night."
A Herald Sun count has Warne narrowly capturing the Test award ahead of Ponting after a stellar 12 months in which the spinner broke Dennis Lillee's record for most wickets in a year.
Warne will dominate the count for Tests during the losing Ashes series, and he had a strong home summer.
While Test votes are weighted more heavily than one-day votes, Warne will suffer from not playing the 50-overs game.
If the master leg-spinner does win, it will be his first medal of any kind since being named Australia's best one-day player in 2000.
"The way he played in England and the way he finished off over here has been exceptional," McGrath said.
"He is an amazing cricketer. To be able to focus like he does out on the field with the things that have been happening off the field just speaks a lot about his mental strength.
"If Warnie didn't have all these things going on, I don't think he would bowl as well out in the middle."
Hussey, who had a strong year in one-day cricket, has been a revelation in the Test team since he made his debut against the West Indies in November.
He is a chance of following Michael Clarke in being a surprise winner of the AB Medal, even though his Test career has been brief.
The West Australian has consistently rescued the one-day side with his irresistible combination of deft touch and power hitting.
- JON PIERIK