Baggy green worn during The Invincible's unbeaten run sells for eye-watering price
The baggy green cricket hat is recognised across the globe and is some of the most sought-after sporting memorabilia money can buy.
Six hats, including one worn by Sid Barnes during the Invincible's unbeaten 1948 run, have gone under the hammer alongside hundreds of other pieces of sporting history at Armadale in Melbourne on February 12.
This prized possession sold for $28,000, marking just one of thousands of pieces of sporting history that went under the hammer.
Don Bradman's baggy green sold at auction for nearly $500,000 last year, and this one is a slightly later version of that iconic piece, also recently sold at auction.
"An Aussie living in England saw a piece about it on the news in the morning rang us and said 'I want it'," Leski Auctions' Charles Leski said.
Leski said the caps were "phenomenally rare and phenomenally desirable", adding that he has only come across one other in his four decades as an auctioneer.
The blazer of Lindsay Hassett, the vice-caption on the Invincible's tour, also sold this afternoon for $3600.
The pieces are just two of more than a thousand pieces of sporting history being auctioned today and tomorrow in Armadale.
"We've got a gold, silver and bronze medal from the Melbourne 1956 Olympics," Leski said.
Leski said that having a gold, silver and bronze medal on sale was a thrill.
"I don't think that's ever happened before," he said.
Leski said up to 1000 bidders from around the world are expected to attend, with most tuning in online.
"And, despite the tough economic climate, those who truly love sporting history are still willing to spend big," he said.
"I'm not telling people to buy these things as an investment.
"We're selling things here that people love, that connect with their passion."
The Carlton Football Club Challenge Cup from 1876 is also up for auction.
On that day, Carlton conducted its 4th Annual Sports Day at the old University Ground on Madeline Street (now Swanston Street) in Melbourne CBD.
It was won by Geelong player William "Trusty" Hall.
He was (and still is) Geelong's only five-time premiership player.
The cup is expected to sell for between $25,000 to $35,000.
The Blackham brooch, containing a piece of the original 'Blackham Ball' used by Frederick Spofforth during the first Ashes Test against England in London in 1882, is also on the market.
The piece of ball is inset under a rock crystal dome within a circlet of 24 old-cut diamonds and mounted in a 15 carat yellow gold cricket bat-shaped brooch, the reverse engraved "Australia v All England, Kennington Oval, August 29th 1882".
The Test match of 1882 followed the Australia tour of England in 1880, which restored cricketing relations between the two countries.
It sold for $32,000.
An Olympic gold medal awarded to Australia's Anthony "Tippy" Marchant in the 2000m Tandem Cycling Final in 1956 is also up for sale.
It is expected to sell for between $30,000 and $40,000.
Share a tip-off, video or photo with us
