Hobart Hurricanes star Mitch Owen’s winning bat from the BBL final has found a new home, heading to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.
Owen’s heroics with the bat in the final have been immortalised, with the Gray-Nicolls bat that he used to score the competition’s equal-fastest ever century placed into the museum’s collection.
“When I reflect back and look at the final, it’s something that I’m really proud of and proud to be Tasmanian and proud to have helped win a tournament for Tassie,” Owen said.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been into the museum, since probably the year six days of the excursions.”
“So to think that my cricket gear will be in there is pretty special and I’m keen to get in there and have a look once it’s all set up.”
TMAG’s senior curator of cultural heritage Isobel Andrewartha said the bat won’t be immediately put on display.
“To start off with, they’re going to go into storage until we can find a really fantastic way to display a bunch of modern sporting things together,” she said.
“So hold off coming through the doors for elite sporting right now. Come through for our taxidermy perhaps.”
“I reckon we will see a lot of kids, especially if we manage to get some BBL content up for the summer months.”
The collection already features equipment from the JackJumpers, including a jersey from Clint Steindl’s inaugural year and a jersey and medal from the FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
“We love to represent Tasmania on both the national and the international stage,” Andrewartha said.
