National Museum Secures Rare Bradman Treasure
A historic baggy green cap once worn by cricket legend Sir Donald Bradman during the 1946-47 Ashes series has been purchased for AU$438,500 (US$286,700 approx.). The National Museum of Australia in Canberra acquired the rare piece of memorabilia, with the federal government covering half of the cost.
Bradman, regarded as the greatest batsman in cricket history, wore the cap while captaining Australia in the first Ashes series played after World War II. Australia triumphed 3-0 in the five-Test series, setting the stage for the unforgettable 1948 ‘Invincibles’ tour, where the team went unbeaten in England.
Arts Minister Tony Burke highlighted the importance of the acquisition, saying:
“𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅-𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒏 𝑨𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝑫𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒅 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒂𝒏. 𝑵𝒐𝒘, 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒄 𝒃𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒚 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒖𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚.”
A Rare Piece of Australian Heritage
The cap is one of only 11 Bradman baggy greens still known to exist. While one is displayed at the Australian Sports Museum, the whereabouts of the other nine remain privately held.
National Museum director Katherine McMahon described the significance of the acquisition, stating:
“𝑺𝒊𝒓 𝑫𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒅’𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒚 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑨𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝑾𝒂𝒓. 𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆.”
The historic cap now takes pride of place in the museum’s Landmarks gallery, joining other Bradman memorabilia that celebrate defining moments in Australian sporting and cultural history.
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