Sir Don Bradman's Debut Cap From 1928 To Be Auctioned
Published - 07 Dec 2020, 06:50 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:38 AM
Sir Don Bradman’s ‘Baggy Green’ cap from his Test debut in England is set to be auctioned this week. Regarded as the greatest batsman to walk on the face of the planet, Don Bradman’s average of 99.94 still remains the Everest in Test cricket; even after 72 years of retiring.
With a minimum of 50 Test matches played, Steve Smith is the closest to Bradman with an average of 62.84.
In his debut tour, Bradman scored 468 runs in 4 matches with 2 hundreds and 2 fifties. The right-hander also holds the record for most runs in a Test series. In the 1930 Ashes, Bradman amassed a mammoth 974 runs in just 7 innings (5 Tests).
He notched a triple hundred, two double hundreds, and a hundred. An illustrious career, unfortunately, was ended with a duck in the last innings as Bradman couldn’t cross the average of 100.
Sir Don Bradman gifted his cap to his neighbour
The Pickles Auctions have confirmed that. Bradman’s ‘Baggy Green’ cap from his debut is going to be put in the auction this week. They also informed that the former Australian captain had gifted his cap to his neighbour, Peter Dunham.
“In 1959, Sir Donald [Sir Don Bradman] gifted the Baggy Green to his neighbor, Peter Dunham, whose house backed onto the Bradman’s family home on the Parade in Kensington Gardens,” Pickles 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).”
Sir Don Bradman died in February 2001 at his home in Adelaide. In 2003, his last baggy green cap from his final tour of England in 1948 was sold for A$425,000, and his blazer from his first series as Test captain sold for A$132,000.
