Late Australian cricketing great Don Bradman’s ‘baggy green’ cap from his Test debut against England in 1928 is being put up for auction, according to Reuters.
“The Don” went on to become one of Australia’s greatest captains and players and he retired with a Test batting average of 99.94, a mark that has not been eclipsed in 72 years.
THE CAP HAS BEEN AUTHENTICATED
“In 1959, Sir Donald Bradman gifted the cap to his neighbour, Peter Dunham, whose house backed onto the Bradman’s family home on the Parade in Kensington Gardens,” Pickles Auctions said in a statement.
“The baggy green has been on loan to the State Library of South Australia since 2003 and has been authenticated by Mr Barry Gibbs (former manager of the State Library of South Australia’s Bradman collection).”
The Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported that Dunham, an accountant, was jailed for eight years and two months in May for scamming $1.3 million from investors, with some of his victims seeking access to the cap to help pay off his debts.
SHANE WARNE SOLD HIS BAGGY GREEN
Earlier this year, former spinner Shane Warne, Australia’s leading Test wicket-taker, sold his prized baggy green for more than A$1 million (R11.3 million) to aid bushfire relief efforts.
In 2003, Bradman’s last baggy green cap from his final tour of England in 1948 was sold for A$425 000 (R4.8 million at today’s exchange rate) while his blazer from his first series as Test captain sold for A$132 000 (R1.5 million) in 2015.
