Bradman?s bat goes for a record price

Don Bradman's first Test cricket bat attracted a record price of 145,000 Australian dollars (US$121,500) at an auction on Wednesday September 24th.The bat, purchased by an undisclosed Australian buyer, was signed by the entire 1928-29 Australian team as well as the English team which won the series then by 4-1.

"This is a record price for a cricket bat and there were several bidders, all of them within Australia, hoping to win the auction," a spokeswoman for Melbourne's Leski Auctions said. The bat did not see much action in the first Test in Brisbane in 1928-29 in which Bradman scored just 18 and 1 in England's 675-run win. Bradman was dropped after his inauspicious debut, and he later donated the bat to a competition run by a Sydney newspaper to raise money for a children's hospital.

Bradman, regarded as the greatest cricketer ever, died in 2001 aged 92 and played his last innings nearly 70 years ago. He retired with a test batting average of 99.94. He scored 28,067 first-class runs at an average of 95.14 and 6,996 runs in 52 tests with 29 centuries and a highest score of 334.He needed four runs in his last Test innings, against England at The Oval in 1948 to end his test career with an average of 100, but was dismissed without scoring.

This auction is indeed an evidence of the legend’s charisma on the cricketing world.