Bradman bat auctioned for big dollars

The first Test bat used by Australian cricket great Donald Bradman was sold for $43,500 at an auction in Sydney.

The first Test bat used by Australian cricket great Donald Bradman was sold for AS $58,000 ($43,500) at an auction in Sydney on Sunday.

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Bradman used the bat on his Test debut in 1928 when he scored 18 and one against England at Brisbane's Exhibition Ground.

England won the Test by 675 runs with Bradman dropped for the second match before returning for the third in Melbourne, where he scored his maiden century.

Bradman averaged a world-record 99.94 runs in 52 Tests between 1928 and 1948.

Other items to go under the hammer Sunday included a bat, glove and Ashes handkerchief of Victor Trumper, items of former Australian skipper Warwick Armstrong and England cricket great WG Grace, and a signed team portrait of the 1909 Australian cricket team.