Catalogue for the auction of
Cricket, Wisden Cricketers’ Almanacks,
Football & Sporting Memorabilia

Sunil Manohar Gavaskar. Bombay, Somerset and & India 1966-1987. Duncan Fearnley ‘Run Reaper’ cricket bat used by Gavaskar in the second Test match playing for India v England in 1979, the match played at Lords. The bat was a prototype bat which was tested by several cricketers before it was subsequently banned by the T.C.C.B. and the M.C.C. following its use by Gavaskar in the first Test. The bat had eleven holes drilled right through it to make it lighter but the authorities claimed it was damaging the ball when in contact with the bat. Sold with a letter of authentication signed by Fearnley ‘This bat was designed and handmade by me for Sunil Gavaskar and was used by him in the first (incorrect, second) Test at Lord’s in 1979...’. The bat was previously used in a bat display which involved the attachment of the bat which has caused some loss of the surface of the back of the bat plus two small nail? holes. The bat was previously sold by John Goodwin Auctioneers in 2019 on behalf of Duncan Fearnley and formed part of his private bat collection. An historic bat