Chris Harris finds stolen debut Test cap after a decade

Former New Zealand all-rounder, Chris Harris got his debut Test cap back a decade after it was stolen from his house. His cap, along with two cricket balls, were put up for auction on Trade Me on 5 May.

The former Blackcaps cricketer was alerted to the trade, which led to the return of his debut Test cap. He made his Test debut Sri Lanka at Moratuwa in 1992 and was handed the No. 181th Test cap of the New Zealand cricket team.

The 46-year-old recalled the event when the cap was stolen nearly 10 years ago and said, "Our house was burgled years ago and I reported it stolen at the time, this would have been about 10 years ago. It was one of the bizarre things that was stolen that day, it was pretty personal as it had my name on it too.”

The cap was pulled from auction in the morning, with the highest bid at $1310.The item had been listed by a Christchurch seller with a reserve of $299, but that figure was quickly met.

Harris was extremely happy to be reunited with his debut cap and praised Trade Me for getting it back for him. He said, "I've had a few calls about it since the item was listed and after the story and Trade Me have been brilliant, they've got it back to me. I'm pretty rapt about it."

When contacted about the auction of the item, and why it was pulled, the seller declined to comment on the matter. Trade Me contacted the seller and after the item was removed from the auction to know about the issue.

Trade Me spokesperson, Paul Ford said, "He told us he was had pulled it as he was a little unclear about its ownership. If there were any concerns about stolen items appearing on Trade Me, the site worked with police to help in "any way we could."

According to the auction site, a plate on the side of the box "C Z Harris, No 181, NEW ZEALAND vs SRI LANKA 1992/93", this clearly proves that it was Harris’ stolen debut cap.

The talented all-rounder represented his country in 23 Test matches and 250 ODIs and scored more than 5,000 international runs and also picked up more than 200 wickets in his international career.