Jos Buttler made a remarkable gesture last week when he revealed the match worn jersey would be listed on auction website eBay on behalf of the Royal Brompton Hospital.
Bids are due to close on Tuesday night, and the prospect of owning the prized memento has already produced offers in excess of ₤65,000
To bid on my World Cup shirt in aid of the @RBHCharity go to … https://t.co/9E4vuoVaPn
— Jos Buttler (@josbuttler) March 31, 2020
“When this outbreak started, we were just speaking to her about what it’s like and is there anything we could do to help?” Buttler stated.
Jos Buttler’s status as an England World Cup winner has already assured his place in the history books. Still, the shirt he wore at the decisive moment last summer could soon secure a more immediate legacy: helping save lives threatened by the coronavirus.
“I think £65,000 is an amazing amount of money and, having spoken to the guys at the hospitals, I know what that can buy them. That’s an ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machine,” he stated.
“That machine is vital not just for COVID-19 patients but all heart and lung patients. The Royal Brompton is one of only five ECMO centers in the UK, so that’s going to be a big thing for them. It’s a very special shirt for me, but I think it takes on extra meaning now.”
Buttler followed up his donation by joining the rest of his centrally contracted England teammates in baffling up the equivalent of 20 percent of their ECB wages for the next three months.
“I hope the money can be used in all the areas where it is needed,” he stated.
“There are many different areas that are going to be affected grassroots, youth coaching, and disability sports.
“All the areas I think the players would love that money to go towards are those kinds of community things.
Centrally-contracted England players have given up an equivalent of 20 percent of their ECB wages for the next three months
