Cricket Australia advised Fairfax Media on Monday that its legal department would investigate the flood of replica Australian Test cricket caps on eBay that were being manufactured in India.

The baggy green cap was described by a Cricket Australia spokesman as ''iconic'' and he warned the organisation would not look favourably upon items described as ''authentic'' by an Indian company that had been an eBay member since September 2012.

''I'm very surprised and very disappointed to see that,'' CA spokesman Peter Young said. ''We are vigilant about this kind of thing.

''It's important we let the world know we do protect Cricket Australia's intellectual property vigorously. We take this kind of issue very seriously and the matter has been referred to our legal department.

''We regard the cap as an iconic symbol and we protect it very, very closely. It is one of the most powerful symbols in not only Australian cricket, but world cricket.

''Genuine baggy green caps, when they go to auction, do very well. In one case, one went for over $400,000 because it was a Sir Donald Bradman cap.''

CA, at the behest of players who represented the nation during the Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh captaincy eras, resisted the urge to produce replicas for commercial sale despite the promise of royalties, because they feared it would cheapen the significance of being presented with the cap.

The caps on eBay were promoted as ''authentic, real baggy green cricket cap 2014 Test Ashes'' and an emotive appeal to ''be part of a proud tradition'' was accompanied by photographs of luminaries such as Bradman and Ricky Ponting.

Former Test player Len Pascoe, who represented Australia in the 1970s and '80s, viewed the caps on eBay for Fairfax Media and said some examples appeared to be of a good quality.

He said, in the cyber age, Cricket Australia faced the same challenges as other companies in trying to fight piracy.