Bradman’s backyard bat expected to fetch $15,000-$20,000

SYDNEY - Sir Donald Bradman’s backyard bat will be auctioned Sunday and is expected to fetch anything between $15,000-$20,000.

The bat which Bradman used for playing backyard cricket at his Adelaide home is termed as “perhaps the ultimate backyard bat” by sports memorabilia experts.

The willow was not only tested by the great Bradman but also by the other contemporaries such as Keith Miller and Lindsay Hassett during their visits to Bradman’s Holden Street home in Adelaide.

Tom Thompson, who published Bradman’s memoir ‘Farewell to cricket’ recalls the time when he and many others flocked the legendary batsman’s home after a Test match and would start belting around with the backyard bat.

“When there was an Adelaide game, everybody would go back and play in Bradman’s backyard. It was a fun thing,” Thompson was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald.

“The only rule that I was ever told by Bradman was that over the fence was definitely out and you could not play. He called them ‘ill-considered shots’. It was all about control and precision. With Bradman there was always rules,” he said.

The three-quarter sized backyard bat was produced by the British firm Sykes for young cricketers in 1936 and was signed by Bradman in the ownership position of the upper-left, reverse.