Baggy Green

As England close in on victory in the final test and not only retain the Ashes but win a series in Australia the headline in one paper was "Saggy Green," a reference to the famous Baggy Green caps worn by the Australian national team.

A Baggy Green cap was on display or a in the Pavilion for a few years. It was not any old cap, but one awarded to Sir Donald Bradman, that greatest of Australian cricketers in his last season, playing in England in 1948.

Bradman used to give his caps away and this one was given to Owen Truscott, an Australian who had helped him with his banking arrangements. The cap came to Truscott's son, Kevin (K 1944) who loaned it to Haileybury. In the 1990s another Bradman cap was sold for a great deal of money and it was felt that the school could no longer provide a safe home if the cap were to be displayed. Arrangements were made for it to be sent to the Bradman collection in the South Australia State Library. They were delighted, especially as it had been thought that there had only been one cap issued for that series and the existence of the second Baggy Green was unsuspected. The full story is narrated here.