Former Black Caps cricket all-rounder Chris Harris has been reunited with his debut test cap, a decade after it was stolen from his house.

His cap and two cricket balls were put up for auction on Trade Me on Thursday morning.

Harris was alerted to the sale, leading to the auction being pulled and the cap being returned.

STACY SQUIRES/FAIRFAX NZ Former Black Cap Chris Harris.

"Our house was burgled years ago and I reported it stolen at the time, this would have been about 10 years ago," Harris said.

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"It was one of the bizarre things that was stolen that day, it was pretty personal as it had my name on it too.

"I've had a few calls about it since the item was listed and after the story [on Thursday morning] and Trade Me have been brilliant, they've got it back to me. I'm pretty rapt about it."

The item was pulled from auction at 11.29am on Thursday, with the highest bid at $1310.

It had been listed by a Christchurch seller with a reserve of $299, but that figure was quickly met.

When contacted about the auction, and why it was pulled, the seller declined to comment.

Trade Me contacted the seller when the item was removed, as bidding had started, spokesman Paul Ford said.

The site's trust and safety unit asked why the seller had not provided information as to the reason the auction was pulled, "which is not cool", Ford said.

"He told us he was had pulled it as he was a little unclear about its provenance (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", Ford said.

According to the Trade Me auction, a plate on the lid of the box reads "New Zealand Cricket", and "Chris Harris No 181". That refers to Harris being the 181st New Zealand test cricketer.

A plate on the side said, "C Z Harris, No 181, NEW ZEALAND vs SRI LANKA 1992/93". Harris's debut test match was against Sri Lanka in Moratuwa, from November 27 until December 2, 1992.

He scored 56 in that debut from 192 balls, but failed to take a wicket.

Harris played 23 tests and 250 one-day internationals for New Zealand in an international career spanning 14 years.

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