Australia's greatest cricketers gathered in Sydney on Friday to honour the baggy green cap they wear as a badge of honour.

The country's most revered sporting symbol has been awarded to 385 men, 197 of whom survive. Of those, 147 were at Friday's meeting, where they received commemorative replicas.

The last cap worn by Australia's greatest cricketer, the late Don Bradman, sold last month for US$285,235 but Australia's current captain Steve Waugh says his is priceless.

Waugh's cap has been soaked in beer and blood and is badly faded but he wears it with pride every time he plays.

"Every guy I've played with loves the baggy green, it certainly means a lot," Waugh said.

"It makes us feel special and I think it can intimidate the opposition. It gives us strength and it unites us and shows that we're a committed unit."

Bradman, who died in 2001, was, as ever, a popular subject for conversation and Waugh said that he would have dominated today's game as he did his own era from the late 1920s to the 1940s.

"A genius is a genius. That's probably the most simple way you can put it," said Waugh.

Bradman averaged 99.94 in his 52-test career, almost twice as good as the best of the rest of the last 50 years.

His former team mate Arthur Morris agreed that Bradman would still flourish against the bowling and improved fielding of today's game.

UNIQUE BATSMAN

"He'd be averaging 99 these days, believe me, and he might even get himself up over the 100 because Sir Donald Bradman was a unique batsman," Morris said.

"He had tremendous determination and concentration and he had all the shots. He was amazing."

Another of his former team mates, 91-year-old Bill Brown, said Bradman would have dominated any bowling attack from any era.

"He was just the complete player who seemed to be able to bat as long as he wanted to. He would just go on, 100, 200, 300 and on one occasion 400. said Brown, Australia's oldest surviving test cricketer.

The tradition of the baggy green cap began with Australia's first test, against England, in 1876-77 and has continued ever since with some minor changes.

Players were once given a new cap every time they toured but now they just receive one on debut. The cap was originally part of a parcel of gear given to them on debut until Waugh's predecessor, Mark Taylor, came up with the idea of presenting the cap to debutants from the mid 1990s.

Most players prefer to wear a wide-brimmed, floppy hat during matches but Taylor encouraged everyone to wear their baggy green caps during the first session in the field of every test -- a tradition that survives today.

Taylor, who famously declared when he was unbeaten on 334 because he didn't want to pass Bradman's record score by an Australian, usually wore the more practical wide-brimmed hat during his career but wore the cap on his final appearance.

"It is a wonderful keepsake and it draws all Australian cricketers from every era together," he said.