Test Cap Recalls Bradman's Worst Day at the Crease

If not for Eric Hollies, widely regarded as the most incompetent English batsman in the modern era, the ABC’s post office box would have been 100 (or 1,000 or 10,000).

Eric who?

According to urban legend, Talbot Duckmanton, former General Manager of the then Australian Broadcasting Commission, suggested that the post office box should be 9994 in recognition of Sir Donald Bradman’s batting average of 99.94. Remarkable by even today’s standards.

Eric Hollies, a fine leg-spinner but woeful batsman, bowled Bradman out for a duck in the Don’s final Test appearance at Kennington Oval in London in 1948. The feat was all the more telling considering that Bradman only needed four runs to achieve a batting average of 100.

(Hollies failed to reach 20 in any innings he played between 1946 and 1953 and has the distinction of taking more wickets in first class cricket than runs!)

Hollies died in 1981 but one of the few links to his remarkable bowling effort and the Bradman legacy will be offered by Charles Leski Auctions on Thursday August 16.

Lot 569 is Hollies’ England Home Test Cap worn against Australia’s 1948 ‘Invincibles’, Bradman’s final tour. The cap (England’s version of Australia’s ‘baggy green’) has a presale estimate of $25,000 to $30,000 and is regarded as a ‘must’ for any serious collector of Bradman and related memorabilia.

In late June, Charles Leski Auctions offered four ‘baggy greens’ for sale, something that rarely if ever happens in the world of sporting memorabilia. As a result of the publicity and better-than-expected results, two additional ‘baggy greens’ were entrusted to the Melbourne auction house.
  • 1949-50 - Lindsay Hassett
    Hassett played 43 Tests for Australia including 24 as captain. This is his captain’s ‘baggy green’ from his tour to South Africa, the first as captain. [Pre-sale estimate: $15,000 - $20,000]

  • 1960-61 – Colin McDonald
    McDonald played 47 Tests from 1951-61. He wore this ‘baggy green’ in what is regarded as his best innings, 91 in Melbourne in front of 90,800 against an in-form Wes Hall, one of the greatest West Indian fast bowlers. [Pre-sale estimate: $8,000 - $10,000]

1949-50 - Lindsay Hassett
Lot 574
1960-61 – Colin McDonald
Lot 586

These lots are among more than 1,000 items of sporting collectibles, memorabilia and ephemera to be offered for sale over two nights.

NEXT AUCTIONS: Tuesday, August 15th from 6.30pm and Wednesday, August 16th from 6.30pm each day 13 Cato Street, Hawthorn East Catalogue can be viewed at www.leski.com.au Tel: (03) 9864 9999

Issued by: Michael Krape, Michael Krape Consulting Tel: 0403 135 880 michaelkrape@krape.com.au