How a Best & Fairest count works

01Who votes

After each match, a voter picks the three standout players: 3 votes for the top one, 2 for the next and 1 for the third. Who votes is the league's call:

• The umpires, which is the traditional way for a league award.
• The coaches of both teams, which some leagues prefer.
• The players or the crowd, for a club's own awards or a people's choice.

A club often runs its own Best & Fairest too, alongside the league's, with its coaches or committee voting across the club's teams.

02Keeping the count sealed

The tension of count night depends on nobody knowing the leader. So the votes go in after each round, the round is sealed once its cards are in, and the running total stays hidden from the people entering votes, the clubs and the players until the night.

03Count night

At the presentation, the count is read out round by round, usually on a projector, with the leaderboard changing as each round's votes are added. Many leagues read the last rounds more slowly, or stop showing the leaderboard near the end, so the room hears the winner at the same moment.

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04Ties and eligibility

Every league writes down, before the season, how a tie is settled (a shared medal, or a count-back on the number of 3-vote games, for example) and who is eligible, such as whether a player suspended during the season can still win. Writing it down first means nobody has to decide it in front of a full room.

05After the night

The declared result goes on the roll of honour, beside every winner before it, and the full vote tally is kept with the season's records.

06How Perch HQ runs it

In Perch HQ, a league's Best & Fairest takes votes all season, from the umpires, the coaches, the players or the public, as the league chooses. Votes come in through a private vote link; each round is sealed once its cards are in; and the count stays hidden from the people who enter votes.

• On presentation night, the count runs on the projector from Perch HQ, round by round.
• Declaring the result files it on the roll of honour.
• A club can run its own Best & Fairest across its own teams.

See it on the For leagues page, or book a demo to try a count in our invented cricket district.

07Questions