'Sold!': Shane Warne's baggy green cap sets insane benchmark

Australians have just been given more than a million reasons to love Shane Warne.

The beloved Aussie cricket great's baggy green cap has officially sold at auction - raking in more than one million dollars for the bushfire crisis engulfing Australia.

Interest in Warne's treasured piece of cricket memorabilia has been going through the roof ever since he announced he would put it up for sale to raise money for the bushfire relief.

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By 8am on Thursday morning (AEDT), the top bid on Warne's baggy green cap was a whopping $511,000.

However, 24 hours later that astronomical figure had risen by more than $400,000.

Late bids saw the auction top the $1 million mark before the baggy green finally sold for an eye-watering $1,007,500 at 10am on Friday morning (AEDT), smashing the $425,000 that Sir Don Bradman’s baggy green once sold for.

When bidding closed the famous cap was sold to 'M.C. from Sydney', according to the auction house's website.

'M.C.', whose identity has yet to be revealed, went head-to-head with 'W.C. from Gordon' in the final stages of the auction.

The "incredible" result sent fans into a frenzy on social media.

Rocked as so many Australians have been by the bushfires that have destroyed livelihoods, homes and wildlife across the country, the legendary leg-spinner chose to do his bit by auctioning off one of his most prized cricket possessions.

The cap, which Warne wore throughout his decorated Test career, comes with an autographed certificate of authenticity.

So sought-after was the once-in-a-lifetime piece of cricket memorabilia that bids came flying in quicker than the website hosting the auction could initially handle.

“The bushfires have been absolutely horrific, and they’ve touched all of us in a way, we’ve seen the total devastation,” Warne said on Fox Sports.

“Lives have been lost, families have been lost, and over 500 million wildlife has died. The stories are horrific.

Warne says 100 percent of the proceeds from the auction will go to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal.

The King of Spin featured in 145 Test matches in which he took an astonishing 708 wickets.

Warne held the record as the greatest wicket-taker in Test cricket history before former Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan broke it on his way to setting an unprecedented mark of 808 Test wickets.

Warne is just one of a lengthy list of Aussie sports stars doing their bit for the victims of the bushfire crisis.

Fellow cricket great Jeff Thomson has also put his baggy green cap up for grabs, while Nick Kyrgios sparked a wave of fundraising from within the tennis community.

Sporting community rallies in support of bushfire victims

Tennis Australia chief Craig Tiley announced on Wednesday that Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Kyrgios will headline a charity exhibition event called Rally for Relief on Rod Laver Arena.

Australian Open tournament organiser Tiley also told reporters that Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniaki and Stefanos Tsitsipas will also take part in the event to be held on the evening of January 15.

Nine Australian NBA stars have also banded together with the American league to donate more than $1 million.

NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg announced the opening week of the 2020 season will be a dedicated Bushfire Appeal Round to raise money for those affected.

The NRL's plan will form part of a whole-of-game approach with the Queensland Rugby League , NSW Rugby League and the Rugby League Players Association working to devise a plan to maximise fundraising.

An AFL State of Origin match will also be held in February to raise proceeds for bushfire victims, with the AFL also chipping in $2.5 million towards the relief.

With agencies