Cricket Bat Signed by Indian Team to be Auctioned at Australian Charity Event

A cricket bat autographed by the 2007 World T20 championship winning Indian team will be up for auction at the inaugural Chappell Foundation dinner event, scheduled to be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground on May 24, PTI reported. The Indian team was led by MS Dhoni for the tournament.

The charity dinner, which will be attended by several members of Sydney’s Indian community, is expected to raise around $200,000 (over Rs 1 crore). The Chappell Foundation aims to help homeless youth in Australia by raising funds for frontline organizations that are working to provide refuge, nourishment and a better future for them.

The event is expected to be attended by all the three Chappell brothers — Ian, Greg, Trevor — who started the foundation last year, and legendary Australian cricketer Neil Harvey, besides at least 30 Non-Resident Indians.

“Out of the 400-odd attendees, about 30 will be Indian-Australians (NRIs) who have each paid the $275 entrance to support the cause in their adopted country. They will undoubtedly bid hotly for a couple of auction items with an Indian flavor, including a bat autographed by the 2007 T20 World Cup winning team,” Greg Chappell was quoted as saying in a statement.

The charity auction will also see other memorabilia, such as the Melbourne Cricket Club pullover worn by bowler Frank Tyson — often dubbed as “Typhoon” Tyson — during the 1958 Ashes. The pullover was gifted to Mumbai- based veteran cricket journalist Makarand Waingankar by Tyson. Waingankar has donated it for the charity.

Nice to hear from friend Greg Chappell that the 1958 pullover of Frank Tyson will be auctioned during the Greg Chappell Foundation dinner on 24th May at Sydney. Since the foundation is doing a great job for the homeless I thought of handing over pullover to him.

— Makarand Waingankar (@wmakarand) May 11, 2018

Many NRIs are also expected to show their interest in bidding for premium seating for the opening test match between Indian and Australia at the Adelaide Oval, and for the Sydney Cricket Ground’s hospitality suite during the subsequent Sydney Test in January 2019.

Greg Chappell set up the foundation last year, with the support of his brothers. The organization features notable Australians as patrons, and a board that includes journalists Malcolm Knox and Tracey Holmes; broadcaster Lisa Sthalekar, who is a former captain of the Australian women’s cricket team; and former LBW Trust chairman and co-founder and Sydney Thunder Advisory Board member Darshak Mehta. Indian-origin businessman Mehta was honored with an Order of Australia by the Australian government for his service to the community in 2017.

Greg Chappell was also involved with the Children’s Hospital Foundation in Brisbane in the 1980s, and has worked with the Leukemia Foundations in Brisbane, Adelaide and Sydney, according to cricket.com.