Lost bag and baggies: David Warner pleads for return of his caps

David Warner is putting a brave face on the heartbreak of losing both his baggy green caps on the eve of his 113th and final Test match.

Dave Warner in his Instagram video plea. Picture: Instagram

David Warner is putting a brave face on the heartbreak of losing both his baggy green caps on the eve of his 113th and final Test match.

The caps were in a backpack in his kit which was flown to Sydney from Melbourne by Qantas – but the backpack was missing when the opener was reunited with his gear.

Warner was forced to replace his original baggy green when it began to disintegrate. He already had a replacement cap after misplacing the first during the Bangladesh tour but that was eventually located by his wife Candice in a bag at home.

Cricket Australia, the two hotels the side used and the airline have launched an investigation, but Warner went public on social media with a plea to have his caps returned on Tuesday.

“Hi all, this is my last resort,” he wrote on Instagram, alongside a video, “but my backpack, which contained my baggy green, has been taken from my luggage, which was transported to Melbourne airport and flown on Qantas to Sydney a few days ago.

“Qantas have said they checked their cameras and have not seen anyone open our bags and take the backpack, however they do have blind spots.

“If you are the person, who was either working for the company driving it to and from the airport or working for Qantas and have, by chance, just wanted the backpack, I have one for you. I would be grateful if this were returned asap.

“Please reach out to Cricket Australia or myself via my social media and I’m happy to give this to you if you return my baggy greens.”

Sports memorabilia expert Michael Fahey said that it was difficult to put a price on modern baggy greens as none had come on the market in the past two decades but he estimated it would be worth between $20,000 and $40,000.

A number of players, including Ricky Ponting, have had their baggy green caps stolen in transit.

Ponting had his original cap stolen in Sri Lanka in 1999. “I was gutted to think that the cap was gone,” he said. “After losing it I carried my baggy green in my hand luggage wherever I went.

“It was with me in 144 Test matches all over the world and was looking pretty worse for wear when I retired.”

Mike Coward, former senior cricket writer with The Australian and author of the soon to be republished book The Baggy Green, said that there have been a number of thefts over the years and few were recovered.

“Michael Kasprowicz, Jason Gillespie, Ian Chappell, Graham McKenzie and Ashley Mallett had their baggy greens stolen – in fact Mallett had two stolen,” he revealed.

“Gillespie had his returned through the South Australian Cricket Association.”

On Tuesday, captain Pat Cummins said Warner was a “champion of Australian sport” but was cool on the idea of the player, who has also stood down from the one-day side, being used for events like the 2025 Champions Trophy.

“I think very clear that he’s still in our T 20 team, hopefully for the World Cup next year,” he said. “So that’s clear and then yeah, one day cricket – I think it’s probably time to give some others a crack, but knowing that he’s going to still be playing cricket.

“So it might be more of a kind of break glass and emergency ­option. But you know, David is going to be scoring runs somewhere in the world. So you never quite know.”