Australian Test Cricketer buys his own cricket bat

Evan Bancroft | July 02, 2023

In 2000 Neil Harvey was selected in the Australian Test team of the Century. 79 tests, 6,149 runs at 48.41 including 21 centuries made Harvey a worthy selection to bat at number 5 behind Bradman at 3 and Greg Chappell at 4.

Harvey played his first Test in January 1948 against India in Adelaide at the age of 19 and you wouldn’t believe what he went and bought when he found out he was about to make his Test debut…. a cricket bat and it was the first he’d own.

On a ‘Just Havin a Crack’ podcasts shared with Blakey and I how he played first grade district cricket in Melbourne and Shield cricket for Victoria using a bat that came from the team kit.

Imagine that, you’ve been picked to play Test cricket, to wear the baggy green, the dreams of many and you’ve done so using a cricket bat shared by all your other team mates.

We had so much fun talking to Neil Harvey as he shared some tremendous stories of the boat trip to the 1948 Ashes tour of England and his relationship with Don Bradman who was 20 years older and his captain.

Settle in, we had a lot of fun

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