New Delhi: During his stellar playing career, former cricketer Lord Ian Botham sold priceless mementos, with mementos from the 1981 Ashes victory being among the best-selling products.
The ball with which the former England all-rounder took five Australian wickets in the 1981 Ashes was auctioned as part of the collection. James Anderson eventually exceeded the former all-rounder's 383 wicket total in 2015.
Following the game at Edgbaston, one of the umpires gave the red ball to Botham; it sold for £20,000 (INR 21,48,878/-) .
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A genuine cricket stump from the prior game at Headingley, which Botham had kept as a memento and was inscribed with "Headingley 81" in pen on the base, sold for £11,000(INR 11,81,882.90).
One of the best-selling artifacts in the collection was an inscribed Man of the Match medal from the 1981 Headingley game, which sold for £19,000(INR 20,41,434.10), more than double the pre-sale estimate.
otham reportedly opted to sell items as part of a desire to downsize and had more than 200 mementos from his career sold in total at The Oval cricket field in south London as part of Knights Sporting Auctions.
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An original Manchester United short-sleeved shirt worn by Northern Irish footballer Samuel "Sammy" McIlroy in the Charity Shield game against Liverpool played at Wembley in August 1977 was the most popular item sold at the auction.
The jersey, which McIlroy gave to Botham and was valued at £3,000(INR 3,22,331.70) before the sale, brought in $23,000(INR 24,71,209.70).
The lifetime achievement award that Botham received from the BBC in 2004 sold for £3,600(INR 3,86,798.04).
A navy blue Test blazer given to and worn by Botham during his England Test career sold for £1,800(INR 1,93,399.02). Other lots included Botham's Somerset 1st XI cricket cap, which sold for more than the pre-sale estimate at £2,700(INR 2,90,098.53).
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