New book celebrates pride of the Baggy Green

For more than 140 years, our Baggy Green heroes have captured the hearts of fans who follow their fortunes with pride and passion, and 'Baggy Green Legends' pays tribute to the most sacred piece of headwear in Australian sport and the men and women who wear it with distinction. 

Featuring more than 150 magnificent images and the unique insights of Mark Taylor (excerpt below), Allan Border, Nathan Lyon, Ian Healy, Jason Gillespie, Colin Miller, Rick McCosker, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt and more, 'Baggy Green Legends' takes you on a journey from the making of the cap to the emotional presentation to debutants and the buzz of singing the team song after a win.

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Mark Taylor made countless crucial decisions during his 50 Tests in charge of the Australian team but one of the most profound was to start a cap presentation for debutants while away on tour.

Taylor did the honours himself in Pakistan in 1998 when he handed Colin Miller his first Test cap at Rawalpindi.

"I always thought the Baggy Green was something very special but you only ever got it in a box, so I thought we had a great opportunity on tour to make a special presentation on the morning of the game to anyone making their debut," Taylor reveals.

"Our manager Col Egar had some spare caps for anyone who might debut on tour so I grabbed one and presented it to 'Funky' on day one."

Image Id: 8F1469079C3D40B89B9686FBBB45D609 Image Caption: Megan Schutt has worn the Baggy Green in four Tests // Getty

When Steve Waugh took the reins from Taylor in 1999, his first eight Test matches as captain were on foreign soil. When the home series against Pakistan got underway at the Gabba on November 5, Waugh went next level with the cap presentations when he invited 1948 Invincible Bill Brown into the inner sanctum to hand debutants Adam Gilchrist and Scott Muller their Baggy Green.

From that day forward, a former player has come in on the first morning of the Test to present the Baggy Green and offer some words of wisdom and encouragement to nervous debutants.

As a player fulfills a childhood dream and embarks on their own journey the day is made even more powerful by sharing it with one of the men or women who blazed the trail.

Imagine the emotion for Western Australian Shaun Marsh as he received his cap from his father Geoff in Kandy in 2011.

Imagine the pride Geoff felt as his young bloke proceeded to make a century on debut.

Clearly the motivational speech from father to son had worked a treat and another special chapter in Baggy Green folklore was written.

Back in 1985 when Marsh snr played the first of his 50 Tests, the cap had just as much meaning but far less ceremony.

"Guys who played before me said they got their Baggy Green from the postman or they found it in a bag in their hotel room and they put it on and looked at themselves in the bathroom mirror for five minutes and that was it," recalls Miller, Test player #379.

"You dream of playing for Australia your whole life so to get my Baggy Green presented to me by the captain of Australia was pretty cool.

"In Pakistan, none of the wives or partners were there. It was just us, so it was a nice little bonding session for the guys in the team and the management."

It seems only fitting that Taylor has since been invited back to take part in several cap presentations, including for Shane Watson at the SCG in 2005 and George Bailey at the Gabba in 2013.

Image Id: 98C4D0D719664DECA3D6AB9884F38372 Image Caption: Mark Taylor presented George Bailey with his Baggy Green in 2013 // Getty

And despite having faced the fury of Curtly Ambrose, Wasim Akram and Allan Donald hurling a new red missile at him, Taylor reckons the butterflies were just as jumpy when the time came for the cap ceremony.

"It's nerve racking and you want to work out something to say rather than the obvious so I like to do some research about the person I'm presenting the cap to," Taylor says.

"I think at the heart of it you give the same message as you give a young kid playing the game even though it's the ultimate cap to wear and to earn – wear it with pride and remember to enjoy it."

For Miller, whose Baggy Green now takes pride of place in his sports bar in his Las Vegas home, the enjoyment came in spades both on and off the field.

His debut Test was won by an innings thanks to tons by Steve Waugh and Michael Slater and nine wickets to Stuart MacGill, and when it came time to wind down, Pakistan offered memories to last a lifetime.

"When you're overseas there is more team bonding – we spent a lot of that tour together and it was a really good experience," Miller recalls.

"Tours are so condensed now but back then you actually got to see the country you were touring.

"In Pakistan they took us up the Khyber Pass and they basically called a truce that day between the warring tribes because the Australian cricket team was coming up the Khyber Pass.

"Our national security guards and the army took us to this yellow line on the road that signified the beginning of the Pass and then the Khyber riflemen took over.

"They took us up to the highest point of the Pass and then took us back to barracks and wined and dined us and took us shooting on the gun range."

Miller would go on to add another 17 Test matches to his CV and play a leading role in some memorable Australian victories, but there's nothing quite like that first time you're handed a Baggy Green and told, 'Welcome to the club, we believe in you'.

'Baggy Green Legends' can be purchased here