MELBOURNE, June 26: A blue cap worn by controversial former England captain Douglas Jardine was sold at a Melbourne auction for $A24,000 (US$16,080) on Thursday.

Jardine led England to victory over Australia in 1932-33 in what became known as the Bodyline series. A patriotic man who despised Australians, he was heartily loathed by them in turn.

“Our expectation was A$15,000 to $A25,000 so we were very, very pleased,” a spokeswoman for Charles Leski Auctions said.

Jardine famously instructed his bowlers, including the extremely rapid Harold Larwood, to bowl at the batsmen’s bodies supported by a packed leg-side field.

The tactic was designed primarily to stop the prodigious run-scoring of Don Bradman, who was temporarily tamed as England won the series 4-1.

The Australian Cricket Board (ACB) sent an historic telegram to the Marylebone Cricket Club, which ran international cricket at the time, calling England’s tactics “unsportsmanlike”.

“Unless stopped at once, it is likely to upset friendly relations existing between Australia and England,” the ACB said.

A diplomatic crisis was averted and Bodyline bowling was outlawed.

Born in India, Jardine died in Switzerland aged 57 in 1958. The former Surrey captain scored 1,296 runs in 22 Tests at an average of 48.00.

Bradman’s baggy green cap from the 1946-47 Ashes series was sold at Christie’s in London on Tuesday for 35,250 pounds ($58,690) — a world record at auction for a cricket cap.

A bat used by Bradman during a tour of England in 1930 was sold for 29,375 pounds.

“It (the Jardine cap) would never have been expected to achieve that sort of Bradman figure,” the Leski spokeswoman said.—Reuters