Bradman's last baggy green fetches £175,000

The baggy green worn by Don Bradman during his final tour as Australia's captain to England in 1948 has been sold at auction for a world-record sum of Aus$425,000 (£175,000). This dwarfs the Aus$88,835 (£36,000) that his cap from the 1946-47 Ashes series fetched in London last month.

"This is not just the holy grail associated with Bradman, it's the holy grail associated with the cricket world," Graham Halbish, the chairman of Melbourne-based auctioneers Ludgrove's International, said when asked whether he thought the price was too high. But Richard Mulvaney, chairman of the Bradman Museum at Bowral, said the price was totally "unrealistic". He insisted that the price had been fuelled by marketing and media hype.

"To be honest, the media campaign has heightened public interest, and has well truly overvalued the cap," Mulvaney said. " It will be a real disincentive for people donating items to cultural institutions, whether they be Sir Donald Bradman memorabilia or otherwise. It does price us well and truly out of the market. You wonder whether the items are purchased for investment gains, and so fall out of public hands."

The winning bidder, who lives in New South Wales, helped fund his acquisition with winnings from the TV show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. A spokesman for the new owner said that he was a cricket-lover and was keen that the cap should go on public display.

Bradman gave the baggy green to Richard Robins, his godson and the son of England captain Walter Robins.