Memorabilia auction brings Bradman to life

Memorabilia auction brings Bradman to life
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

MUMBAI: It was the first of its kind auction in this cricket-crazy nation for the memorabilia of one of greatest players of all times who, unfortunately was not destined to see it happen. The late Sir Don Bradman, who died on Sunday, was brought back to life at an auction organised by for Australia captain Kim Hughes and Michael Ludgrove in association with expressindia.com,cricketnext.com and baazee.com at the Oberoi poolside on Thursday.

That the proceeds from some of the items including a bat signed by the Indian, Pakistan and Australian teams (auctioned for 12,50,000 at the CCI on Sunday last) were channelled towards the Gujarat Relief Fund was an attraction for 300-500 cricket lovers who turned up for the bidding.

Though the opening bid was as low as $2,500, the call for $2,000 for a stump of the historic Madras tied Test (1986) saw an Indian memorabilia getting recognition. The highest bid of $5,000 went for a framed picture of the 20th century Test captains for Australia.

Cricket enthusiasts like Anil Dharker who bid for a portrait of Bradman, Siddharth Jain and some from outside India were also present at the auction. ``Having my origins from India, I know that the importance of collecting historic items, anything which has special sentiments attached to it, is still to catch up here,'' said Michael Ludgrove

Coming from countries like England and Australia with a rich tradition of sports memorabilia, the auctioneer, with an experience of nearly 24 years, does admit that he expected a better response. However, his optimism is not misplaced as he says that though the official time for the auction was over and hardly half of the items went under the hammer, there were many who were calling up to make enquiries.

Ludgrove is all game for a second innings, probably in December this year. Hopefully, by then, the awareness among Indians for sports memorabilia would have achieved a better `batting' average.