Cricket: Shane Warne's baggy green sells for more than one million dollars in Australia bush fire relief auction

Shane Warne is auctioning his Baggy Green to raise funds for the bush fire relief efforts. Photo / Twitter

Shane Warne's baggy green auction to raise money for bushfire relief reached record levels with the cap going for more than $1 million.

Shortly after 10am on Friday when the deadline arrived, the winning bid stood at a whopping $1,007,500.

That total has smashed the price earned for the cap of Sir Donald Bradman, which went for $425,000 in 2003.

Please bid here https://t.co/kZMhGkmcxs pic.twitter.com/ZhpeWQxqY7

— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) January 6, 2020

There was a bidding frenzy for Warne's baggy green on Thursday night as two keen combatants went blow for blow to push the amount from $650,500 at 9.20pm to north of $850,000 by 11pm — and they resumed hostilities just after 7am on Friday to drive it even higher, surging past the $1 million mark.

While Warne famously preferred to wear his wide-brimmed floppy hat on the field, he decided to donate his baggy green to raise money for the bushfire appeal.

Bidding for Warne's cap, which will come with an autographed certificate of authenticity, hit $200,000 an hour after opening and climbed higher in the following days before reaching seven figures.

Warne, who was named one of Wisden's five cricketers of the 20th century, took to Twitter to thank all those who helped push the price up.

Warne joined the liked Ash Barty, Daniel Ricciardo and many others on a long list of high-profile members of Australia's sporting community to announce fundraising measures.

The AFL has also announced the resurgence of the State of Origin between Victoria and the All-Stars, with funds raised from that iconic clash to go towards the bushfire appeal.

Warne said it was the least he could do. "The horrific bushfires in Australia have left us all in disbelief," Warne said. "The impact these devastating fires are having on so many people is unthinkable and has touched us all. Lives have been lost, homes have been destroyed and over 500 million animals have died.

"Some of the images we're seeing are absolutely horrific."

The flood of donations from sportspeople began after Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios said he'd donate $200 for every ace he hits in January before his Aussie teammate Alex de Minaur and John Millman jumped on board.

A stack of cricketers are donating sums of money based on how many sixes they hit or wickets they claim in this summer's Big Bash League, while Australia's Test attack pledged $1000 per wicket in the SCG Test.

Aussie NBA players have pledged $1 million towards the cause, but it's not just Australians donating, with international superstars like tennis stars Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova donating $25,000 each and US skateboarding legend Tony Hawk also chipping in.