Bids for Shane Warne's 'Baggy Green' cross $500K mark

The Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales are raging hot thanks to the unstoppable bush fires which have claimed lives of over 20 people and more than half a billion animals have been affected in the blaze that has been going for some time now. Many celebrities and sportspersons have come forward in order to raise funds to help fight the fires.

One such Aussie was legendary cricketer Shane Warne was voted as one of the five cricketers of 20^th century by Wisden and retired with 708 Test wickets and close to 300 ODI wickets to his name. Warne was shaken by the devastation brought on by the fires caused mostly by lightning and decided to auction off his baggy green Australia Test cap and raise funds for the bushfire appeal.

Apart from him, Australian sports figures and several international tennis players who arrived in the country for tournaments ahead of the Australian Open have raised funds in support of relief and recovery efforts for victims.

Shane Warne urges everyone to come together and contribute

Shane Warne had put up a call for funds on his Instagram account, in which he said that he was putting up his baggy green cap up for auction and asked the people to bid wholeheartedly, which even saw former England captain Michael Vaughan put up a $25,000 bid.

Warne mentioned in his Instagram post that the bushfires have left everyone in disbelief and the impact these devastating fires have caused the loss of homes, lives, and wildlife as well. He further said that everyone needed to come together and contribute to helping out on a daily basis.

“This has lead me to auction of my beloved baggy green cap (350) that I wore throughout my test career (when I wasn’t wearing my white floppy hat). I hope my baggy green can raise some significant funds to help all those people that are in desperate need,” Warne said. This led to a massive outpour of support from fans and bidders that Fox Sports Australia announced on their official Instagram account, “Warnie’s Baggy Green Bushfire Appeal Auction has ticked over the $500k mark 👏👏👏”

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Warnie's Baggy Green Bushfire Appeal Auction has ticked over the $500k mark 👏👏👏

A post shared by Fox Sports Australia (@foxsportsaus) on Jan 7, 2020 at 9:15pm PST

Meanwhile, the Australian authorities have taken actions against 183 people in New South Wales, 24 of them being charged with starting fires intentionally. Nearly 18 million acres of land have been burned — most of its bushland, forests and national parks, which are home to the country’s native wildlife. First responders were asked to kill animals who are too injured to be saved and even 10,000 feral camels were ordered to be culled in order to prevent them from encroaching native lands in search of water.

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