The debut baggy green of the Australian genius Sir Donald Bradman that was worn by him during Ashes in 1928-29 has gone under the hammer. The cap has been bought by an Australian businessman, Peter Freedman for AUD 450,000 (INR 2.51 Crore).
Earlier this month, there was a lot of anticipation when it was announced that the Bradman’s debut baggy green will be auctioned. In 1958, the Don gave the cap to his neighbour, Peter Dunham as a gift but Durham was jailed for a fraud worth $1.3 million. He was asked to repay $ 80,000. As his estate is bankrupted, the court has ordered to auction of Sir Donald Bradman’s gift.
Freedman, who is the founder of Rode Microphones, is a keen collectors of such auspicious memorabilia. Earlier this year, the businessman bought Kurt Cobain’s guitar for AUD 9 Million (INR 50.11 Crore). After buying the Bradman memento, Freedman said, “Sir Don Bradman is an Aussie legend. Not only as one of our greatest talents on the sporting field. I have some exciting plans for the baggy green that will see it travel the country and shared with sports fans and cricketing communities.”
Sir Bradman is known as the Don of the sport and he is regarded as one of Australia’s greatest captains. The Don was an artist with a bat in his hand, is referred to as the greatest cricketer to have played the game of cricket.
According to Reuters, auctioneers had hoped to reach between A$1 million-$2 million for the cap, which had failed to reach its reserve price of A$400,000 in the online auction. The sale still surpasses the A$425,000 paid for Bradman’s baggy green cap from his final tour of England in 1948 that was sold in 2003.