Cricket - ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 - Semi-Final - Australia Practice - Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India - November 14, 2023 Australia's David Warner during practice REUTERS/Andrew Boyers/ File photo
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australian opener David Warner's impassioned appeal for the return of his missing baggy green cap for his final test has been successful with the rucksack containing the iconic headwear discovered at the team hotel in Sydney.
The rucksack went missing in transit from Melbourne to Warner's home city after the second test against Pakistan and the 37-year-old had to wear a replacement in the field on the opening day of the third test on Wednesday.
"I am very pleased and relieved that I have got my baggy back in my hands," Warner said in a post on Instagram on Friday.
"Any cricketer knows how special their cap is and I'll cherish this for the rest of my life.
"I'm very grateful to all those involved in locating it ... it's a load off my shoulders going into the last couple of days."
Warner made 34 in Australia's first innings on Thursday but should have another chance to bat at his home Sydney Cricket Ground over the next few days in his 112th and final test.
Australian internationals receive the baggy green cap, usually from a former player, on the morning of their test debut and wear it with pride even as it deteriorates over the length of their career.
The baggy green cap of Australian cricketing great Shane Warne sold for A$1,007,500 ($675,528) at an auction in January 2020.
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was among those who had joined Warner's appeal for the return of the rucksack.
"It's a good thing that Dave Warner has his baggy green back," Albanese told a news conference on Friday.
"We know that this is something that can't be bought in a shop, it's got to be earned. David Warner has earned it and to be able to wear it in 100 test matches for Australia."
($1 = 1.4914 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, additional reporting by Lewis Jackson, Editing by Peter Rutherford and Michael Perry)
