The Hindu : Front Page : A passion for Bradman memorabilia

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 28, 2007
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A passion for Bradman memorabilia

Mukund Padmanabhan

On an impressive collection — on the Don’s 99th birthday today

— Photo: Mukund Padmanabhan

RICH REPOSITORY: Goeff Heard with his Don Bradman collection at his home near Adelaide.

Adelaide: At his luxurious home in Mitcham on the outskirts of Adelaide, Geoff Heard, 55, is surfing eBay. “Look,” he exclaims. “There are 162 Bradman items on eBay Australia today.”

Coming from a wealthy family with business interests, he is a daily caller at the auction website. “I also visit the eBay England site regularly,” he says. “If there is something that catches my interest, I snap it up.”

We are in a large room at a corner of his house, which has an impressive collection of Bradman memorabilia. Pictures, paintings, autographed cricket bats, posters and cards line the walls and cram the display cases. “I think I have just about every book written about him or by him,” says Mr. Heard.

It is a private collection, but interestingly, it is authorised. “Everything in here is authorised by the Bradman Foundation and the Bradman family,” he says. A decade ago, Mr. Heard was given permission to sell replicas of Bradman memorabilia signed by the cricketing legend on the understanding that the proceeds go to charity.

In 1999, Mr. Heard approached the Don seeking permission to make replicas of his bats. Of special interest were nine particularly famous ones — including the one with which he made 334, then a world record — housed at the Bradman Museum in Adelaide. The replicas, which look uncannily like the originals, are made of a mixture of wood and plastic. Apart from the stipulation that the proceeds go to charity, the Don insisted on seeing the first one before giving Mr. Heard the go ahead. “The bats fetch anything between $1,000 and $2,000 at fund-raising auctions,” he saysMr. Heard’s collection, which now numbers around 1,000 items, began accidentally when he was about 11.

“My auntie gave me some Bradman stuff, mainly signed photos. She gave me some old Wisdens a few years later, but I wasn’t crazy about collecting then. It was only when I turned 40 that I began to get serious. My collection has doubled since the launch of eBay.”

Mr. Heard says the Don, whose 99th birthday falls on August 28, reckoned he had signed about a million times in his life. The value of the signed memorabilia keep appreciating . “Bradman was amused right until the very end how much an original signature item would fetch,” says Mr. Heard. “He would say, ‘I just don’t get it’.”

Mr. Heard ( crm@internode.on.net), says he is keen to get someone in India to sell his range of memorabilia. “After all, India is the biggest Bradman market after Australia.”

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