Sobers bats smash world records
West Indies cricket great Sir Garfield Sobers smashed his way back into the record books when two bats he used in the 1950s and 1960s sold for record prices,
auction house Christie's said on Thursday.
The bat Sobers used to hit his then record Test score of
365 not out for the West Indies against Pakistan in Jamaica in
1958 sold for 69,930 dollars at an auction on Wednesday --- the highest price ever paid for a piece of cricket
memorabilia.
But minutes after that sale was knocked down to a private
British buyer, another Sobers bat broke the mark.
The bat he used to club a record six consecutive sixes in a
single over in an English county match in 1968 was sold for
146,875 a dollars to a private buyer in the United States.
Christie's said the previous record for a cricket bat sale
was 55,200 dollars, set in 1999 for willow wielded by another of the
world's great cricketers, Australia's Sir Donald Bradman.
Sobers's record Test score of 365 was bettered by fellow
West Indian Brian Lara, who hit 375 against England in the
1993-94 season.
UNI
Mail Cricket Editor