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TRANSCRIPT
REPORTER: "So this is the chest?"
FAMILY MEMBER: "Yeah, this is the treasure chest... Okay, drum roll."
REPORTER: "Wow. Wow."
For the past 75 years, three generations of the family of former Indian test cricketer Sriranga [[Sree-rung-gah]] Sohini has held on to a very important item in a glass cabinet.
FAMILY: "So all his stuff is here. And if you can come a little closer you can smell that old smell.”
What the family kept was a baggy green cap, which Don Bradman gave to their grandfather during India's first tour of Australia after the country gained independence in 1947.
Lee Hames from Lloyds Auctions says Bradman offered the cap as a show of sportsmanship during the Brisbane leg of the tour, when their bowler mistakenly thought he had gotten the Australian legend out.
“He (the bowler) turned to the umpire and they said that's not out, and so he turned out to be the first Indian cricketer not to get Sir Donald Bradman out. They went back and reviewed the footage obviously and they reckoned it was plumb. In true Sir Donald Bradman nature we're told he went into the changing rooms that night, obviously knew that it was important that India weren't too discouraged. He put his arm around the young Indian bowler and put the baggy green on his head. So he used that as inspiration for the Indian cricket team.”
Lee Hames has just concluded an online auction of the cap - selling it for $460,000 dollars to an Australian collector who has chosen to remain anonymous.
The cap will remain in Australia and at some stage, be placed on public display in a prominent Australian museum.
Mr Hames says that's the highest price ever paid for a baggy green worn by the Don.
It's the holy grail when it comes to cricket sporting memorabilia... This one is a very important baggy green. It is the baggy green that Sir Don Bradman was wearing when he achieved his 100th century. It was the baggy green that he wore in his last Test on home soil - and it's been away for 75 years.”
It's not the first iconic Australian baggy green to go under the hammer.
The record price for such a cap belongs to Shane Warne, who sold his for just over a million dollars in 2020 to raise money for the Australian Red Cross, money that NSW Red Cross director Poppy Brown said in 2020 was life changing.
“When we have talked to people who are in the evacuation centres and are really struggling, they are so amazed by the support from the community.”
Yet, while the money from the Shane Warne and Don Bradman sales are respectable figures - they're still not the most expensive pieces of memorabilia in history.
New Jersey-based auctioneer Alex McNicoll says a jersey worn by the late great player Diego Maradona in his first ever World Cup match against Belgium in 1982, featuring his signature on the front in black ink, went for $12.4 million [[AUD]].
“As far as a public auction, there's never been a piece like this. And it's hard to say there will be again. This piece really does belong in a museum just because of its significance for soccer history and Maradona's history.”
Another piece of Diego Maradona history was the football used in the 1986 World Cup quarter final between Argentina and England.
That point became known as the Hand of God goal because of accusations that Maradona had batted the ball into the net with his fist.
“Maradona, he handled the ball, didn't he? Didn't he?”
The legend himself confirmed this some time later, saying it was symbolic revenge for Argentina's defeat by the United Kingdom in the 1982 Falklands War.
The football itself was sold several years ago by Graham Budd Auctions for a healthy sum.
AUCTIONEER: "It's the hand of god football from the Argentina versus England quarter final... That's two million, thank you very much.”
Meanwhile, in basketball, the sneakers that Michael Jordan wore in game two of the 1998 NBA finals went up for grabs three years ago - becoming the most expensive sneakers ever sold at auction.
Sotheby's Head of Streetwear and Modern Collectables, Braham Wachter, says someone bought them as a single lot for 2.2 million dollars.
“And, you know, he won that game. He scored 37 points. They're in remarkable condition with beautiful, big silver signatures. And, you know, they are game worn by him. And so, it's really kind of a spectacular specimen.”
Despite that incredible sum of money, it still fell short of Michael Jordan's jersey from the 1998 NBA basketball finals game one which sold for $15 million dollars last year.
Yet even that sale was eclipsed by the auction of a jersey worn by the famous baseball player Babe Ruth during the 1932 World Series - which went for more than $24 million in 2024.
Back home, Lee Hames says expectations were always high for this Sir Don Bradman baggy green, and he is glad it will remain in Australia for cricket fans to appreciate.
He says people pay good sums of money for such items not just because of the potential for an increase in value, but to feel connected to the history of the sports they love.
“There's nothing more important to Australians in sporting terms than cricket, and there's no-one more important than the Don.”
1947 Newscaster: "But the crowd needn't worry. Don makes it in a single and the whole ground goes wild."
