Bradman 'Invincibles' tour cap fails to sell at Australian auction

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

The baggy green cap worn by Australian cricket legend Donald Bradman at his final Test Monday failed to sell at an auction in Melbourne despite generating global media interest.

The cap, Bradman's when he captained the 1948 Australian 'Invincibles' on their Ashes tour of England, had been expected to fetch more than 600,000 dollars (400,000 US) at the Charles Leski Auction.

Ahead of the auction, Leski said the item was "the most valuable item to come on the market in the sporting memorabilia field in Australia".

But not a single offer was made at auction.

Leski said his auction house would be negotiating with a client who had previously made an offer and he was confident it would be sold within 24 hours.

The cap was given to the son of an English friend of Bradman's after the Australian cricketer noticed the boy playing cricket in a substandard hat.

"Sir Don said: 'We can't have that, we'd better get you a decent one', and a short while later in the mail the 1948 baggy green arrived," Leski told the Nine Network.

Leski said Richard Robins Jr eventually sold the cap, which comes with a letter of authenticity, to an Australian in 2003.

Bradman, who died in 2001 aged 92, played his last match in England in 1948 and retired with a yet-to-be-topped Test batting average of 99.94 despite scoring a duck in his final innings.

Labels: Cricketer, Donald Bradman