Donald Bradman's baggy green sells for eye-watering price
Sir Donald Bradman's baggy green that he wore in his final Australian Test series has fetched nearly half a million at auction.
The cap was worn by Bradman during the 1947-48 series, when the Indian team played on Australia soil for the first time in history.
The baggy green fetched a whopping $390,000, with the final price totalling $479,700 including auction costs.
It attracted significant interest from potential buyers from both Australia and overseas, with the winning buyer coming out on top after a 10 minute flurry at Bonhams Auction House in Sydney on Tuesday evening.
The auction house described the cap as "sun faded and worn", with "some insect damage" and "some loss to edge of peak".
The cap was also advertised as “the only known Baggy Green” to have been worn by Bradman during the series, where he cored 715 runs in six innings at an average of 178.75, with three centuries and a double-hundred.
Bradman had gifted it to India's team manager at the time, who then gave it to the team's wicket keeper.
While it is currently not known who placed the winning bid, the cap itself has particular significance to Indian fans, as the series took place just months after the country gained independence.
For Aussie fans, the cap was worn during Bradman's final game on Australian soil, with the cricket legend embarking on a farewell tour of England afterwards.
This is not the first cap of Bradman's to go under the hammer, with the cap he wore during his 1928 Test debut fetching over $450,000 plus fees in 2020.
The late Shane Warne's baggy green currently holds the record for sale at auction, after selling for $1m when auctioned off in 2020.
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