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Don Bradman

Sir Donald George Bradman AC (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time.[3] His cricketing successes have been claimed by Shane Warne, among others, to make Bradman the "greatest sportsperson" in history.[4][5][6] Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 is considered by some to be the greatest achievement by any sportsman in any major sport.[7]

Sir
Don Bradman

AC
Bradman in 1930
Personal information
Full name
Donald George Bradman
Born(1908-08-27)27 August 1908
Cootamundra, New South Wales, Australia
Died25 February 2001(2001-02-25) (aged 92)
Kensington Park, South Australia
Nickname
  • The Don
  • The Boy from Bowral
  • Braddles
  • the White Headley
Height1.70[1][2] m (5 ft 7 in)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm leg break
RoleBatsman
Relations
  • 2 children, including John
  • 3 grandchildren, including Greta
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 124)30 November 1928 v England
Last Test18 August 1948 v England
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1927/28–1933/34New South Wales
1935/36–1948/49South Australia
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class
Matches 52 234
Runs scored 6,996 28,067
Batting average 99.94 95.14
100s/50s 29/13 117/69
Top score 334 452*
Balls bowled 160 2,114
Wickets 2 36
Bowling average 36.00 37.97
5 wickets in innings 0 0
10 wickets in match 0 0
Best bowling 1/8 3/35
Catches/stumpings 32/– 131/1
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 4 December 2014

Although Bradman reportedly disliked fame, his iconic status made him one of Australia's best-known personalities and arguably the country's "first celebrity".[8]

The story that the young Bradman practised alone with a cricket stump and a golf ball is part of Australian folklore.[9] His meteoric rise from bush cricket to the Australian Test team took just over two years. Before his 22nd birthday, he had set many records for top scoring, some of which still stand, and became Australia's sporting idol at the height of the Great Depression. This hero status grew and continued through the Second World War.

During a 20-year playing career, Bradman consistently scored at a level that made him, in the words of former Australia captain Bill Woodfull, "worth three batsmen to Australia".[10] A controversial set of tactics, known as Bodyline, was specially devised by the England team to curb his scoring. As a captain and administrator, Bradman was committed to attacking, entertaining cricket; he drew spectators in record numbers. He hated the constant adulation, however, and it affected how he dealt with others. The focus of attention on Bradman's individual performances strained relationships with some teammates, administrators and journalists, who thought him aloof and wary.[11] Following an enforced hiatus due to the Second World War, he made a dramatic comeback, captaining an Australian team known as "The Invincibles" on a record-breaking unbeaten tour of England.

A complex and highly driven man, not given to close personal relationships,[12] Bradman retained a pre-eminent position in the game by acting as an administrator, selector and writer for three decades following his retirement. Even after he became reclusive in his declining years, Bradman's opinion was highly sought, and his status as a national icon was still recognised. Almost fifty years after his retirement as a Test player, in 1997, Prime Minister John Howard called him the "greatest living Australian".[13] Bradman's image has appeared on postage stamps and coins, and a museum dedicated to his life was opened while he was still living. On the centenary of his birth, 27 August 2008, the Royal Australian Mint issued a $5 commemorative gold coin with Bradman's image.[14] In 2009, he was inducted posthumously as an inaugural member into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Early years

 
Bradman's birthplace at Cootamundra is now a museum

Donald George Bradman was the youngest son of George and Emily (née Whatman) Bradman, and was born on 27 August 1908 at Cootamundra, New South Wales (NSW).[15] He had a brother, Victor, and three sisters – Islet, Lilian and Elizabeth May.[15]

Bradman was of English heritage on both sides of his family. His grandfather Charles Andrew Bradman had left Withersfield, Suffolk, for Australia.[16] In 1930, when he played at Cambridge during his first tour of England, 21-year-old Bradman took the opportunity to trace his forebears in the region.[17] Bradman was also partly of Italian lineage; one of his great-grandfathers had been one of the first Italians to migrate to Australia in 1826.[18]

Bradman's parents lived in the hamlet of Yeo Yeo, near Stockinbingal. His mother, Emily, gave birth to him at the Cootamundra home of Granny Scholz, a midwife, which is now the Bradman Birthplace Museum. Bradman's mother had hailed from Mittagong in the NSW Southern Highlands and in 1911, when Bradman was about two-and-a-half years old, his parents decided to relocate to Bowral, close to Emily's family and friends in Mittagong, as life at Yeo Yeo was proving difficult.[15][19][20] Emily, who bowled left-arm spin, played in the women's intercolonial cricket competition between the main states in 1890s.[21]

Bradman practised batting incessantly during his youth. He invented his own solo cricket game, using a cricket stump for a bat and a golf ball.[22] A water tank, mounted on a curved brick stand, stood on a paved area behind the family home. When hit into the curved brick facing of the stand, the ball rebounded at high speed and varying angles—and Bradman would attempt to hit it again. This form of practice developed his timing and reactions to a high degree.[23] In more formal cricket, Bradman hit his first century at the age of 12, with an undefeated 115[24] playing for Bowral Public School against Mittagong High School.[25]

Bush cricketer

During the 1920–21 season, Bradman acted as scorer for the local Bowral team, captained by his uncle George Whatman. In October 1920, he filled in when the team was one man short, scoring 37* and 29* on debut. During the season, Bradman's father took him to the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) to watch the fifth Ashes Test match. On that day, Bradman formed an ambition, telling his father: "I shall never be satisfied until I play on this ground."[26] Bradman left school in 1922 and went to work for a local real estate agent who encouraged his sporting pursuits by giving him time off when necessary. He gave up cricket in favour of tennis for two years but resumed playing cricket in 1925–26.[27]

 
Bradman in 1928

Bradman became a regular selection for the Bowral team; several outstanding performances earned him the attention of Sydney newspapers. Competing on matting-over-concrete pitches, Bowral played other rural towns in the Berrima District competition. Against Wingello, a team that included the future Test bowler Bill O'Reilly, Bradman made 234.[10][28] In the competition final against Moss Vale, which extended over five consecutive Saturdays, Bradman scored 320 not out.[25]

During the following Australian winter (1926), the ageing Australian team lost The Ashes in England, and a number of Test players retired.[29] The New South Wales Cricket Association began a hunt for new talent. Mindful of Bradman's big scores for Bowral, the association wrote to him, requesting his attendance at a practice session in Sydney. He was subsequently chosen for the "Country Week" tournaments at both cricket and tennis, to be played during separate weeks. Bradman's boss presented him with an ultimatum: he could have only one week away from work, and therefore had to choose between the two sports.[27] He chose cricket.

Bradman's performances during Country Week resulted in an invitation to play grade cricket in Sydney for St George in the 1926–27 season. He scored 110 on his debut, making his first century on a turf pitch.[30] On 1 January 1927, Bradman turned out for the NSW second team. For the remainder of the season, he travelled the 130 kilometres (81 mi) from Bowral to Sydney every Saturday to play for St George.[28]

First-class debut

The next season continued the rapid rise of the "Boy from Bowral".[25] Selected to replace the unfit Archie Jackson in the NSW team, Bradman made his first-class debut at the Adelaide Oval, aged 19. He secured the achievement of a hundred on debut, with an innings of 118 featuring what soon became his trademarks—fast footwork, calm confidence and rapid scoring.[31] In the final match of the season, he made his first century at the SCG, against the Sheffield Shield champions Victoria. Despite his potential, Bradman was not chosen for the Australian second team to tour New Zealand.[32]

Bradman decided that his chances for Test selection would be improved by moving to Sydney for the 1928–29 season, when England were to tour in defence of the Ashes. Initially, he continued working in real estate, but later took a promotions job with the sporting goods retailer Mick Simmons Ltd. In the first match of the Sheffield Shield season, he scored a century in each innings against Queensland. He followed this with scores of 87 and 132 not out against the England touring team, and was rewarded with selection for the first Test, to be played at Brisbane.[27]

Test career

 
Bradman is chaired off the ground by his opponents after scoring 452.

Playing in only his tenth first-class match, Bradman, nicknamed "Braddles" by his teammates,[33] found his initial Test a harsh learning experience. Caught on a sticky wicket, Australia were all out for 66 in the second innings and lost by 675 runs (still a Test record).[34] Following scores of 18 and 1, the selectors dropped Bradman to twelfth man for the Second Test. An injury to Bill Ponsford early in the match required Bradman to field as substitute while England amassed 636, following their 863 runs in the First Test. RS "Dick" Whitington wrote, "... he had scored only nineteen himself and these experiences appear to have provided him with food for thought".[35] Recalled for the Third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Bradman scored 79 and 112 to become the youngest player to make a Test century,[36] although the match was still lost. Another loss followed in the Fourth Test. Bradman reached 58 in the second innings and appeared set to guide the team to victory when he was run out.[37] It was to be the only run out of his Test career. The losing margin was just twelve runs.[38]

 
Bradman with his Wm. Sykes bat, in the early 1930s. The "Don Bradman Autograph" bat is still manufactured today by Sykes' successor company, Slazenger.

The improving Australians did manage to win the Fifth and final Test. Bradman top-scored with 123 in the first innings and was at the wicket in the second innings when his captain, Jack Ryder, hit the winning runs. Bradman completed the season with 1,690 first-class runs, averaging 93.88,[39] and his first multiple century in a Sheffield Shield match, not out against Victoria, set a new ground record for the SCG.[40] Bradman averaged 113.28 in 1929–30.[39] In a trial match to select the team that would tour England, he was last man out in the first innings for 124. As his team followed on, the skipper Bill Woodfull asked Bradman to keep the pads on and open the second innings. By the end of play, he was 205 not out, on his way to 225. Against Queensland at the SCG, Bradman set a then world record for first-class cricket by scoring 452 not out;[41] he made his runs in only 415 minutes.[27] Not long after the feat, he recalled:

On 434...I had a curious intuition...I seemed to sense that the ball would be a short-pitched one on the leg-stump, and I could almost feel myself getting ready to make my shot before the ball was delivered. Sure enough, it pitched exactly where I had anticipated, and, hooking it to the square-leg boundary, I established the only record upon which I had set my heart.[42]

Although he was an obvious selection to tour England, Bradman's unorthodox style raised doubts that he could succeed on the slower English pitches. Percy Fender wrote:[43]

...he will always be in the category of the brilliant, if unsound, ones. Promise there is in Bradman in plenty, though watching him does not inspire one with any confidence that he desires to take the only course which will lead him to a fulfilment of that promise. He makes a mistake, then makes it again and again; he does not correct it, or look as if he were trying to do so. He seems to live for the exuberance of the moment.

The encomiums were not confined to his batting gifts; nor did the criticism extend to his character. "Australia has unearthed a champion", said former Australian Test great Clem Hill, "self-taught, with natural ability. But most important of all, with his heart in the right place."[42] Selector Dick Jones weighed in with the observation that it was "good to watch him talking to an old player, listening attentively to everything that is said and then replying with a modest 'thank you'."[42]

1930 tour of England

England were favourites to win the 1930 Ashes series,[44] and if the Australians were to exceed expectations their young batsmen, Bradman and Jackson, needed to prosper. With his elegant batting technique, Jackson appeared the brighter prospect of the pair.[45] However, Bradman began the tour with 236 at Worcester and went on to score 1,000 first-class runs by the end of May, the fifth player (and first Australian) to achieve this rare feat.[46] In his first Test appearance in England, Bradman hit 131 in the second innings but England won the match. His batting reached a new level in the Second Test at Lord's where he scored 254 as Australia won and levelled the series. Later in life, Bradman rated this the best innings of his career as "practically without exception every ball went where it was intended to go".[47] Wisden noted Bradman's fast footwork and how he hit the ball "all round the wicket with power and accuracy", as well as faultless concentration in keeping the ball on the ground.[48]

In terms of runs scored, this performance was soon surpassed. In the Third Test, at Headingley, Bradman scored a century before lunch on 11 July, the first day of the Test match to equal the performances of Victor Trumper and Charlie Macartney.[49] In the afternoon, Bradman added another century between lunch and tea, before finishing the day on 309 not out. He remains the only Test player to pass 300 in one day's play.[50] His eventual score of 334 was a world-record, exceeding the previous mark of 325 by Andy Sandham.[51] Bradman dominated the Australian innings; the second-highest tally was 77 by Alan Kippax. Businessman Arthur Whitelaw later presented Bradman with a cheque for £1,000 in appreciation of his achievement.[52] The match ended in anti-climax as poor weather prevented a result, as it also did in the Fourth Test.

 
Bradman (second from the right, middle row) with the 1930 team

In the deciding Test at The Oval, England made 405. During an innings stretching over three days due to intermittent rain, Bradman made yet another multiple century, this time 232, which helped give Australia a big lead of 290 runs. In a crucial partnership with Jackson, Bradman battled through a difficult session when England fast bowler Harold Larwood bowled short on a pitch enlivened by the rain. Wisden gave this period of play only a passing mention:[53]

On the Wednesday morning the ball flew about a good deal, both batsmen frequently being hit on the body...on more than one occasion each player cocked the ball up dangerously but always, as it happened, just wide of the fieldsmen.

A number of English players and commentators noted Bradman's discomfort in playing the short, rising delivery.[10] The revelation came too late for this particular match, but was to have immense significance in the next Ashes series. Australia won the match by an innings and regained the Ashes.

The victory made an impact in Australia. With the economy sliding toward depression and unemployment rapidly rising, the country found solace in sporting triumph. The story of a self-taught 22-year-old from the bush who set a series of records against the old rival made Bradman a national hero.[54] The statistics he achieved on the tour, especially in the Test matches, broke records for the day and some have stood the test of time. In all, Bradman scored 974 runs at an average of 139.14 during the Test series, with four centuries, including two double hundreds and a triple.[55] As of 2022, no-one has matched or exceeded 974 runs or three double centuries in one Test series; the record of 974 runs exceeds the second-best performance by 69 runs and was achieved in two fewer innings.[56] Bradman's first-class tally, 2,960 runs (at an average of 98.66 with 10 centuries), was another enduring record: the most by any overseas batsman on a tour of England.[57]

On the tour, the dynamic nature of Bradman's batting contrasted sharply with his quiet, solitary off-field demeanour. He was described as aloof from his teammates and he did not offer to buy them a round of drinks, let alone share the money given to him by Whitelaw.[12] He spent a lot of his free time alone, writing, as he had sold the rights to a book. On his return to Australia, Bradman was surprised by the intensity of his reception; he became a "reluctant hero".[12] Mick Simmons wanted to cash in on their employee's newly won fame, asking Bradman to leave his teammates and attend official receptions they organised in Adelaide, Melbourne, Goulburn, his hometown of Bowral and Sydney, where he received a brand new custom-built Chevrolet. At each stop, Bradman received a level of adulation that "embarrassed" him. This focus on individual accomplishment, in a team game, "... permanently damaged relationships with his contemporaries".[12]

Commenting on Australia's victory, the team's vice-captain Vic Richardson said, "...we could have played any team without Bradman, but we could not have played the blind school without Clarrie Grimmett".[58] A modest Bradman can be heard in a 1930 recording saying, "I have always endeavoured to do my best for the side, and the few centuries that have come my way have been achieved in the hope of winning matches. My one idea when going into bat was to make runs for Australia."[59]

Reluctant hero

 
Hundreds of onlookers gather as the Bradmans leave the church after their wedding ceremony at St Paul's Church, Burwood, 30 April 1932.

In 1930–31, against the first West Indian side to visit Australia, Bradman's scoring was more sedate than in England—although he did make 223 in 297 minutes in the Third Test at Brisbane and 152 in 154 minutes in the following Test at Melbourne.[60] However, he scored quickly in a very successful sequence of innings against South Africa in the Australian summer of 1931–32. For NSW against the tourists, he made 30, 135 and 219. In the Test matches, he scored 226 (277 minutes), 112 (155 minutes), 2 and 167 (183 minutes); his 299 not out in the Fourth Test, at Adelaide, set a new record for the highest score in a Test in Australia.[61][62] Australia won nine of the ten Tests played over the two series.

At this point, Bradman had played fifteen Test matches since the beginning of 1930, scoring 2,227 runs at an average of 131.[63] He had played eighteen innings, scoring ten centuries, six of which had extended beyond 200.[63] His overall scoring rate was 42 runs per hour,[64] with 856 (or 38.5% of his tally) scored in boundaries.[63] Significantly, he had not hit a six,[63] which typified Bradman's attitude: if he hit the ball along the ground, then it could not be caught. During this phase of his career, his youth and natural fitness allowed him to adopt a "machine-like" approach to batting. The South African fast bowler Sandy Bell described bowling to him as, "heart-breaking ... with his sort of cynical grin, which rather reminds one of the Sphinx ... he never seems to perspire".[65]

Between these two seasons, Bradman seriously contemplated playing professional cricket in England with the Lancashire League club Accrington, a move that, according to the rules of the day, would have ended his Test career.[27] A consortium of three Sydney businesses offered an alternative. They devised a two-year contract whereby Bradman wrote for Associated Newspapers, broadcast on Radio 2UE and promoted the menswear retailing chain FJ Palmer and Son.[27] However, the contract increased Bradman's dependence on his public profile, making it more difficult to maintain the privacy that he ardently desired.[65]

In a second-class fixture in November 1931, Bradman scored 100 off 22 balls in a three over spell in a match for Blackheath against Lithgow. Bradman's score of 256 included 14 sixes and 29 fours (notably hitting more sixes in this one innings than he hit in his entire first class career).[66][67][68]

Bradman's chaotic wedding to Jessie Menzies in April 1932 epitomised these new and unwelcome intrusions into his private life. The church "was under siege all throughout the day... uninvited guests stood on chairs and pews to get a better view"; police erected barriers that were broken down and many of those invited could not get a seat.[65] Just weeks later, Bradman joined a private team organised by Arthur Mailey to tour the United States and Canada.[69] He travelled with his wife, and the couple treated the trip as a honeymoon. Playing 51 games in 75 days, Bradman scored 3,779 runs at 102.1, with eighteen centuries. Although the standard of play was not high, the effects of the amount of cricket Bradman had played in the three previous years, together with the strains of his celebrity status, began to show on his return home.[70]

Bodyline

"As long as Australia has Bradman she will be invincible ... It is almost time to request a legal limit on the number of runs Bradman should be allowed to make."

News Chronicle, London[71]

Within the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which administered English cricket at the time, few voices were more influential than "Plum" Warner's, who, when considering England's response to Bradman, wrote that it "must evolve a new type of bowler and develop fresh ideas and strange tactics to curb his almost uncanny skill". To that end, Warner orchestrated the appointment of Douglas Jardine as England captain in 1931, as a prelude to Jardine leading the 1932–33 tour to Australia, with Warner as team manager.[72] Remembering that Bradman had struggled against bouncers during his 232 at The Oval in 1930, Jardine decided to combine traditional leg theory with short-pitched bowling to combat Bradman. He settled on the Nottinghamshire fast bowlers Harold Larwood and Bill Voce as the spearheads for his tactics. In support, the England selectors chose another three pacemen for the squad. The unusually high number of fast bowlers caused a lot of comment in both countries and roused Bradman's own suspicions.[25]

Bradman had other problems to deal with at this time; among these were bouts of illness from an undiagnosed malaise which had begun during the tour of North America,[73] and that the Australian Board of Control had initially refused permission for him to write a column for the Sydney Sun newspaper.[73] Bradman, who had signed a two-year contract with the Sun, threatened to withdraw from cricket to honour his contract when the board denied him permission to write; eventually, the paper released Bradman from the contract, in a victory for the board.[73] In three first-class games against England before the Tests, Bradman averaged just 17.16 in six innings.[74] Jardine decided to give the new tactics a trial in only one game, a fixture against an Australian XI at Melbourne. In this match, Bradman faced the leg theory and later warned local administrators that trouble was brewing if it continued.[75] He withdrew from the First Test at the SCG amid rumours that he had suffered a nervous breakdown. Despite his absence, England employed what were already becoming known as the Bodyline tactics against the Australian batsmen and won an ill-tempered match.[27]

 
The famous duck: Bradman bowled by Bowes at the MCG, in front of a world record crowd assembled to see Bradman defeat Bodyline

The public clamoured for the return of Bradman to defeat Bodyline: "he was the batsman who could conquer this cankerous bowling... 'Bradmania', amounting almost to religious fervour, demanded his return".[76] Recovered from his indisposition, Bradman returned to the side in Kippax's position. A world record crowd of 63,993 at the MCG saw Bradman come to the crease on the first day of the Second Test with the score at 2/67. A standing ovation ensued that delayed play for several minutes.[77] Bradman anticipated receiving a bouncer as his first ball and, as the bowler delivered, he moved across his stumps to play the hook shot. The ball failed to rise and Bradman dragged it onto his stumps; the first-ball duck was his first in a Test. The crowd fell into stunned silence as he walked off. However, Australia took a first innings lead in the match, and another record crowd on 2 January 1933 watched Bradman hit a counter-attacking second innings century. His unbeaten 103 (from 146 balls) in a team total of 191 helped set England a target of 251 to win. Bill O'Reilly and Bert Ironmonger bowled Australia to a series-levelling victory amid hopes that Bodyline was beaten.[78]

The Third Test at the Adelaide Oval proved pivotal. There were angry crowd scenes after the Australian captain Bill Woodfull and wicket-keeper Bert Oldfield were hit by bouncers. An apologetic Warner entered the Australian dressing room and was rebuked by Woodfull. Woodfull's remarks (that "...there are two teams out there and only one of them is playing cricket") were leaked to the press, and Warner and others attributed this to Australian opening batsman Jack Fingleton; however, for many years (even after Fingleton's death) a bitter war of accusation passed between Fingleton and Bradman as to who was the real source of the leak. In a cable to the MCC, the Australian Board of Control repeated the allegation of poor sportsmanship directed at Warner by Woodfull.[79]

With the support of the MCC, England continued with Bodyline despite Australian protests. The tourists won the last three Tests convincingly and regained the Ashes. Bradman caused controversy with his own tactics. Always seeking to score, and with the leg side packed with fielders, he often backed away and hit the ball into the vacant half of the outfield with unorthodox shots reminiscent of tennis or golf.[80] This brought him 396 runs (at 56.57) for the series and plaudits for attempting to find a solution to Bodyline, although his series average was just 57% of his career mean. Fingleton was in no doubt that Bradman's game altered irrevocably as a consequence of Bodyline, writing:[81]

Bodyline was specially prepared, nurtured for and expended on him and, in consequence, his technique underwent a change quicker than might have been the case with the passage of time. Bodyline plucked something vibrant from his art.

The constant glare of celebrity and the tribulations of the season forced Bradman to reappraise his life outside the game and to seek a career away from his cricketing fame.[82] Harry Hodgetts, a South Australian delegate to the Board of Control, offered Bradman work as a stockbroker if he would relocate to Adelaide and captain the South Australia team (SA). Unknown to the public, the SA Cricket Association (SACA) instigated Hodgetts' approach and subsidised Bradman's wage.[83] Although his wife was hesitant about moving, Bradman eventually agreed to the deal in February 1934.[84]

Declining health and a brush with death

In his farewell season for NSW, Bradman averaged 132.44, his best yet.[39] He was appointed vice-captain for the 1934 tour of England. However, "he was unwell for much of the [English] summer, and reports in newspapers hinted that he was suffering from heart trouble".[85] Although he again started with a double century at Worcester, his famed concentration soon deserted him. Wisden wrote:[86]

...there were many occasions on which he was out to wild strokes. Indeed at one period he created the impression that, to some extent, he had lost control of himself and went in to bat with an almost complete disregard for anything in the shape of a defensive stroke.

 
Cigarette card distributed during the 1934 Ashes series

At one stage, Bradman went thirteen first-class innings without a century, the longest such spell of his career,[87] prompting suggestions that Bodyline had eroded his confidence and altered his technique.[86] After three Tests, the series was locked up 1–1, and Bradman had scored 133 runs in five innings. The Australians travelled to Sheffield and played a warm-up game before the Fourth Test. Bradman started slowly and then, "...the old Bradman [was] back with us, in the twinkling of an eye, almost".[88] He went on to make 140, with the last 90 runs coming in just 45 minutes. On the opening day of the Fourth Test at Headingley (Leeds), England were out for 200, but Australia slumped to 3/39, losing the third wicket from the last ball of the day.[89] Listed to bat at number five, Bradman would start his innings the next day.

That evening, Bradman declined an invitation to dinner from Neville Cardus, telling the journalist that he wanted an early night because the team needed him to make a double century the next day. Cardus pointed out that his previous innings on the ground was 334, and the law of averages was against another such score. Bradman told Cardus, "I don't believe in the law of averages".[90] In the event, Bradman batted all of the second day and into the third, putting on a then world record partnership of 388 with Bill Ponsford.[91][92] When he was finally out for 304 (473 balls, 43 fours and two sixes), Australia had a lead of 350 runs, but rain prevented them from forcing a victory. The effort of the lengthy innings stretched Bradman's reserves of energy, and he did not play again until the Fifth Test at The Oval, the match that would decide the Ashes.[93]

In the first innings at The Oval, Bradman and Ponsford recorded an even more massive partnership, this time 451 runs. It had taken them less than a month to break the record they had set at Headingley; this new world record was to last 57 years.[91] Bradman's share of the stand was 244 from 271 balls, and the Australian total of 701 set up victory by 562 runs. For the fourth time in five series, the Ashes changed hands.[94] England would not recover them again until after Bradman's retirement.

Seemingly restored to full health, Bradman blazed two centuries in the last two games of the tour. However, when he returned to London to prepare for the trip home, he experienced severe abdominal pain. It took a doctor more than 24 hours to diagnose acute appendicitis and a surgeon operated immediately. Bradman lost a lot of blood during the four-hour procedure and peritonitis set in. Penicillin and sulphonamides were still experimental treatments at this time; peritonitis was usually a fatal condition.[95] On 25 September, the hospital issued a statement that Bradman was struggling for his life and that blood donors were needed urgently.[96]

"The effect of the announcement was little short of spectacular".[95] The hospital could not deal with the number of donors and closed its switchboard in the face of the avalanche of telephone calls generated by the news. Journalists were asked by their editors to prepare obituaries. O'Reilly took a call from King George V's secretary asking that the King be kept informed of the situation.[96] Bradman's wife started the month-long journey to London as soon as she received the news. En route, she heard a rumour that her husband had died.[95] A telephone call clarified the situation and by the time she reached London, Bradman had begun a slow recovery. He followed medical advice to convalesce, taking several months to return to Australia and missing the 1934–35 Australian season.[27]

Internal politics and the Test captaincy

 
Bradman walking out to bat in the Third Test against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1937. His 270 runs won the match for Australia and has been rated the greatest innings of all time.

There was off-field intrigue in Australian cricket during the antipodean winter of 1935. Australia, scheduled to make a tour of South Africa at the end of the year, needed to replace the retired Woodfull as captain. The Board of Control wanted Bradman to lead the team, yet, on 8 August, the board announced his withdrawal from the team due to a lack of fitness. Surprisingly, in the light of this announcement, Bradman led the South Australian team in a full programme of matches that season.[97]

The captaincy was given to Vic Richardson, Bradman's predecessor as South Australian captain.[98] Cricket author Chris Harte's analysis of the situation is that a prior (unspecified) commercial agreement forced Bradman to remain in Australia.[99] Harte attributed an ulterior motive to his relocation: the off-field behaviour of Richardson and other South Australian players had displeased the SACA, which was looking for new leadership. To help improve discipline, Bradman became a committeeman of the SACA, and a selector of the South Australian and Australian teams.[100] He took his adopted state to its first Sheffield Shield title for ten years, Bradman weighing in with personal contributions of 233 against Queensland and 357 against Victoria. He finished the season with 369 (in 233 minutes), a South Australian record, made against Tasmania. The bowler who dismissed him, Reginald Townley, would later become leader of the Tasmanian Liberal Party.[97]

Australia defeated South Africa 4–0 and senior players such as O'Reilly were pointed in their comments about the enjoyment of playing under Richardson's captaincy.[101] A group of players who were openly hostile toward Bradman formed during the tour. For some, the prospect of playing under Bradman was daunting, as was the knowledge that he would additionally be sitting in judgement of their abilities in his role as a selector.[102]

To start the new season, the Test side played a "Rest of Australia" team, captained by Bradman, at Sydney in early October 1936. The Test XI suffered a big defeat, due to Bradman's 212 and a haul of 12 wickets taken by leg-spinner Frank Ward.[103] Bradman let the members of the Test team know that despite their recent success, the team still required improvement.[102] Shortly afterwards, his first child was born on 28 October, but died the next day. He took time out of cricket for two weeks and on his return made 192 in three hours against Victoria in the last match before the beginning of the Ashes series.

The Test selectors made five changes to the team who had played in the previous Test match. Significantly, Australia's most successful bowler, Clarrie Grimmett, was replaced by Ward, one of four players making their debut. Bradman's role in Grimmett's omission from the team was controversial and it became a theme that dogged Bradman as Grimmett continued to be prolific in domestic cricket while his successors were ineffective—he was regarded as having finished the veteran bowler's Test career in a political purge.[104]

 
Bradman and England captain Gubby Allen toss at the start of the 1936–37 Ashes series. The five Tests drew more than 950,000 spectators including a world record 350,534 to the Third Test at Melbourne.

Australia fell to successive defeats in the opening two Tests, Bradman making two ducks in his four innings,[105][106] and it seemed that the captaincy was affecting his form.[107] The selectors made another four changes to the team for the Third Test at Melbourne.

Bradman won the toss on New Year's Day 1937, but again failed with the bat, scoring just 13. The Australians could not take advantage of a pitch that favoured batting, and finished the day at 6/181. On the second day, rain dramatically altered the course of the game. With the sun drying the pitch (in those days, covers could not be used during matches) Bradman declared to get England in to bat while the pitch was "sticky"; England also declared to get Australia back in, conceding a lead of 124. Bradman countered by reversing his batting order to protect his run-makers while conditions improved. The ploy worked and Bradman went in at number seven. In an innings spread over three days, he battled influenza while scoring 270 off 375 balls, sharing a record partnership of 346 with Jack Fingleton,[108] and Australia went on to victory. In 2001, Wisden rated this performance as the best Test match innings of all time.[109]

The next Test, at the Adelaide Oval, was fairly even until Bradman played another patient second innings, making 212 from 395 balls. Australia levelled the series when the erratic[110] left-arm spinner "Chuck" Fleetwood-Smith bowled Australia to victory. In the series-deciding Fifth Test, Bradman returned to a more aggressive style in top-scoring with 169 (off 191 balls) in Australia's 604 and Australia won by an innings.[111] Australia's achievement of winning a Test series after outright losses in the first two matches has never been repeated in Test cricket.[112]

End of an era

During the 1938 tour of England, Bradman played the most consistent cricket of his career.[113] He needed to score heavily as England had a strengthened batting line-up, while the Australian bowling was over-reliant on O'Reilly.[113] Grimmett was overlooked, but Jack Fingleton made the team, so the clique of anti-Bradman players remained.[12] Playing 26 innings on tour, Bradman recorded 13 centuries (a new Australian record) and again made 1,000 first-class runs before the end of May, becoming the only player to do so twice.[114] In scoring 2,429 runs, Bradman achieved the highest average ever recorded in an English season: 115.66.[113]

 
Bradman (left, with his vice-captain Stan McCabe) walks out to bat at Perth, during a preliminary match to the 1938 tour of England. Bradman scored 102.

In the First Test, England amassed a big first innings score and looked likely to win, but Stan McCabe made 232 for Australia, a performance Bradman rated as the best he had ever seen. With Australia forced to follow-on, Bradman fought hard to ensure McCabe's effort was not in vain, and he secured the draw with 144 not out.[115] It was the slowest Test hundred of his career and he played a similar innings of 102 not out in the next Test as Australia struggled to another draw.[116] Rain completely washed out the Third Test at Old Trafford.[117]

Australia's opportunity came at Headingley, a Test described by Bradman as the best he ever played in.[118] England batted first and made 223. During the Australian innings, Bradman backed himself by opting to bat on in poor light conditions, reasoning that Australia could score more runs in bad light on a good pitch than on a rain affected pitch in good light, when he had the option to go off.[119] He scored 103 out of a total of 242 and the gamble paid off, as it meant there was sufficient time to push for victory when an England collapse left them a target of only 107 to win. Australia slumped to 4/61, with Bradman out for 16. An approaching storm threatened to wash the game out, but the poor weather held off and Australia managed to secure the win, a victory that retained the Ashes.[119] For the only time in his life, the tension of the occasion got to Bradman and he could not watch the closing stages of play, a reflection of the pressure that he felt all tour: he described the captaincy as "exhausting" and said he "found it difficult to keep going".[118]

The euphoria of securing the Ashes preceded Australia's heaviest defeat. At The Oval, England amassed a world record of 7/903 and their opening batsman Len Hutton scored an individual world record, by making 364.[120][121] In an attempt to relieve the burden on his bowlers, Bradman took a rare turn at bowling. During his third over, he fractured his ankle and teammates carried him from the ground.[120] With Bradman injured and Fingleton unable to bat because of a leg muscle strain,[120][122] Australia were thrashed by an innings and 579 runs, which remains the largest margin in Test cricket history.[123] Unfit to complete the tour, Bradman left the team in the hands of vice-captain Stan McCabe. At this point, Bradman felt that the burden of captaincy would prevent him from touring England again, although he did not make his doubts public.[118]

Despite the pressure of captaincy, Bradman's batting form remained supreme. An experienced, mature player now commonly called "The Don" had replaced the blitzing style of his early days as the "Boy from Bowral".[124] In 1938–39, he led South Australia to the Sheffield Shield and made a century in six consecutive innings to equal CB Fry's world record.[125] Bradman totalled 21 first-class centuries in 34 innings, from the beginning of the 1938 tour of England (including preliminary games in Australia) until early 1939.

The next season, Bradman made an abortive bid to join the Victoria state side. The Melbourne Cricket Club advertised the position of club secretary and he was led to believe that if he applied, he would get the job.[126] The position, which had been held by Hugh Trumble until his death in August 1938, was one of the most prestigious jobs in Australian cricket. The annual salary of £1,000 would make Bradman financially secure while allowing him to retain a connection with the game.[127] On 18 January 1939, the club's committee, on the casting vote of the chairman, chose former Test batsman Vernon Ransford over Bradman.[127][128]

In August 1939, Bradman won the South Australian squash championships, beating Australian Davis Cup tennis player Don Turnbull in the final. Turnbull won the first two games in the best of five game contest and led 8-3 in the third game with five match points, but Bradman won the game and the fourth. Turnbull led 8-5 in the fifth game but Bradman went on to win.[129]

The 1939–40 season was Bradman's most productive ever for SA: 1,448 runs at an average of 144.8.[39] He made three double centuries, including 251 not out against NSW, the innings that he rated the best he ever played in the Sheffield Shield, as he tamed Bill O'Reilly at the height of his form.[130] However, it was the end of an era. The outbreak of World War II led to the indefinite postponement of all cricket tours, and the suspension of the Sheffield Shield competition.[131]

Troubled war years

Donald Bradman
AllegianceAustralia
Service/branchRoyal Australian Air Force (1940–41)
Australian Army (1941)
Years of service1940–1941
RankLieutenant
Service numberS1388
UnitArmy School of Physical Training
Battles/warsSecond World War
 
Bradman's high backlift and lengthy forward stride were characteristic.

Bradman joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) on 28 June 1940 and was passed fit for air crew duty.[132] The RAAF had more recruits than it could equip and train and Bradman spent four months in Adelaide before the Governor-General of Australia, Lord Gowrie, persuaded Bradman to transfer to the army, a move that was criticised as a safer option for him.[12] Given the rank of lieutenant, he was posted to the Army School of Physical Training at Frankston, Victoria, to act as a divisional supervisor of physical training. The exertion of the job aggravated his chronic muscular problems, diagnosed as fibrositis. Surprisingly, in light of his batting prowess, a routine army test revealed that Bradman had poor eyesight.[133]

Invalided out of service in June 1941, Bradman spent months recuperating, unable even to shave himself or comb his hair due to the extent of the muscular pain he suffered. He resumed stockbroking during 1942. In his biography of Bradman, Charles Williams expounded the theory that the physical problems were psychosomatic, induced by stress and possibly depression; Bradman read the book's manuscript and did not disagree.[134] Had any cricket been played at this time, he would not have been available. Although he found some relief in 1945 when referred to the Melbourne masseur Ern Saunders, Bradman permanently lost the feeling in the thumb and index finger of his (dominant) right hand.[135]

In June 1945, Bradman faced a financial crisis when the firm of Harry Hodgetts collapsed due to fraud and embezzlement.[136] Bradman moved quickly to set up his own business, utilising Hodgetts' client list and his old office in Grenfell Street, Adelaide. The fallout led to a prison term for Hodgetts, and left a stigma attached to Bradman's name in the city's business community for many years.[137]

However, the SA Cricket Association had no hesitation in appointing Bradman as their delegate to the Board of Control in place of Hodgetts. Now working alongside some of the men he had battled in the 1930s, Bradman quickly became a leading light in the administration of the game. With the resumption of international cricket, he was once more appointed a Test selector, and played a major role in planning for post-war cricket.[138]

"The ghost of a once-great cricketer"

 
Bradman and Barnes leave the field for an adjournment as both head towards 234.
 
Bradman during an interstate series at Adelaide Oval, 31 October 1946.

In 1945–46, Bradman suffered regular bouts of fibrositis while coming to terms with increased administrative duties and the establishment of his business.[139] He played for South Australia in two matches to help with the re-establishment of first-class cricket and later described his batting as "painstaking".[140] Batting against the Australian Services cricket team, Bradman scored 112 in less than two hours, yet Dick Whitington (playing for the Services) wrote, "I have seen today the ghost of a once-great cricketer".[141][142] Bradman declined a tour of New Zealand and spent the winter of 1946 wondering whether he had played his last match. "With the English team due to arrive for the 1946–47 Ashes series, the media and the public were anxious to know if Bradman would lead Australia."[143] His doctor recommended against a return to the game.[144] Encouraged by his wife, Bradman agreed to play in lead-up fixtures to the Test series.[145] After hitting two centuries, Bradman made himself available for the First Test at The Gabba.

Controversy emerged on the first day of the First Test at Brisbane. After compiling an uneasy 28 runs, Bradman hit a ball to the gully fieldsman, Jack Ikin. "An appeal for a catch was denied in the umpire's contentious ruling that it was a bump ball".[146] At the end of the over, England captain Wally Hammond spoke with Bradman and criticised him for not "walking"; "from then on the series was a cricketing war just when most people desired peace", Whitington wrote.[147] Bradman regained his finest pre-war form in making 187, followed by 234 during the Second Test at Sydney (Sid Barnes also scored 234 during the innings, many in a still-standing record 405-run 5th-wicket partnership with Bradman. Barnes later recalled that he purposely got out on 234 because "it wouldn't be right for someone to make more runs than Bradman"). Australia won both matches by an innings. Jack Fingleton speculated that had the decision at Brisbane gone against him, Bradman would have retired, such were his fitness problems.[148] In the remainder of the series, Bradman made three half-centuries in six innings, but he was unable to make another century; nevertheless, his team won handsomely, scoring 3–0. He was the leading batsman on either side, with an average of 97.14. Nearly 850,000 spectators watched the Tests, which helped lift public spirits after the war.[149]

Century of centuries and "The Invincibles"

India made its first tour of Australia in the 1947–48 season. On 15 November, Bradman made 172 against them for an Australian XI at Sydney, his 100th first-class century.[150] The first non-Englishman to achieve the milestone, Bradman remains the only Australian to have done so.[151] In five Tests, he scored 715 runs (at 178.75 average). His last double century (201) came at Adelaide, and he scored a century in each innings of the Melbourne Test.[152] On the eve of the Fifth Test, he announced that the match would be his last in Australia, although he would tour England as a farewell.[153]

Australia had assembled one of the great teams of cricket history.[154] Bradman made it known that he wanted to go through the tour unbeaten,[64] a feat never before accomplished.[155] English spectators were drawn to the matches knowing that it would be their last opportunity to see Bradman in action. RC Robertson-Glasgow observed of Bradman that:[39]

Next to Mr. Winston Churchill, he was the most celebrated man in England during the summer of 1948. His appearances throughout the country were like one continuous farewell matinée. At last his batting showed human fallibility. Often, especially at the start of the innings, he played where the ball wasn't, and spectators rubbed their eyes.

Despite his waning powers, Bradman compiled 11 centuries on the tour, amassing 2,428 runs (average 89.92).[39] His highest score of the tour (187) came against Essex, when Australia compiled a world record of 721 runs in a day. In the Tests, he scored a century at Trent Bridge, but the performance most like his pre-war exploits came in the Fourth Test at Headingley. England declared on the last morning of the game, setting Australia a world record 404 runs to win in only 345 minutes on a heavily worn pitch. In partnership with Arthur Morris (182), Bradman reeled off 173 not out and the match was won with 15 minutes to spare. The journalist Ray Robinson called the victory "the 'finest ever' in its conquest of seemingly insuperable odds".[156]

In the final Test at The Oval, Bradman walked out to bat in Australia's first innings. He received a standing ovation from the crowd and three cheers from the opposition.[157] His Test batting average stood at 101.39.[158] Facing the wrist-spin of Eric Hollies,[159] Bradman pushed forward to the second ball that he faced, was deceived by a googly, and was bowled between bat and pad for a duck.[160] An England batting collapse resulted in an innings defeat, denying Bradman the opportunity to bat again and so his career average finished at 99.94;[157][161][162] if he had scored just four runs in his last innings, it would have been 100. A story developed over the years that claimed Bradman missed the ball because of tears in his eyes,[162] a claim Bradman denied for the rest of his life.[163]

The Australian team won the Ashes 4–0, completed the tour unbeaten, and entered history as "The Invincibles".[164] Just as Bradman's legend grew, rather than diminished, over the years, so too has the reputation of the 1948 team. For Bradman, it was the most personally fulfilling period of his playing days, as the divisiveness of the 1930s had passed. He wrote:[165]

Knowing the personnel, I was confident that here at last was the great opportunity which I had longed for. A team of cricketers whose respect and loyalty were unquestioned, who would regard me in a fatherly sense and listen to my advice, follow my guidance and not question my handling of affairs...there are no longer any fears that they will query the wisdom of what you do. The result is a sense of freedom to give full reign to your own creative ability and personal judgment.

With Bradman now retired from professional cricket, RC Robertson-Glasgow wrote of the English reaction "... a miracle has been removed from among us. So must ancient Italy have felt when she heard of the death of Hannibal".[39]

Statistical summary

Test match performance

 
This is the complete graphical representation of the test cricket record of Don Bradman. Individual innings are represented by the blue and red (not out) bars; the green line is his career batting average.[166]
  Batting[167] Bowling[168]
Opposition Matches Runs Average High Score 100 / 50 Runs Wickets Average Best (Inns)
  England 37 5,028 89.78 334 19/12 51 1 51.00 1/23
  India 5 715 178.75 201 4/1 4 0  –  –
  South Africa 5 806 201.50 299* 4/0 2 0  –  –
  West Indies 5 447 74.50 223 2/0 15 1 15.00 1/8
Overall 52 6,996 99.94 334 29/13 72 2 36.00 1/8

First-class performance

 
This is the complete graphical representation of the first-class cricket record of Don Bradman. Individual innings are represented by the blue and red (not out) bars; the black line is his career batting average.
Innings Not Out Highest Aggregate Average 100s 100s/inns
Ashes Tests 63 7 334 5,028 89.78 19 30.2%
All Tests 80 10 334 6,996 99.94 29 36.3%
Sheffield Shield 96 15 452* 8,926 110.19 36 37.5%
All First Class 338 43 452* 28,067 95.14 117 34.6%
Grade 93 17 303 6,598 86.80 28 30.1%
All Second Class 331 64 320* 22,664 84.80 94 28.4%
Grand Total 669 107 452* 50,731 90.27 211 31.5%
Statistics from Bradman Museum.[169]

Test records

Bradman still holds the following significant records for Test match cricket:

Batting average

  • Highest career batting average (minimum 20 innings): 99.94[170]
  • Highest series batting average (minimum 4-Test series): 201.50 (1931–32); also second-highest: 178.75 (1947–48)[171]

Conversion rate

  • Highest percentage of centuries per innings played: 36.25% (29 centuries from 80 innings)[172]
  • Highest percentage of double centuries per innings played: 15% (12 double centuries from 80 innings)[173]
  • Highest 50/100 conversion rate (minimum 2000 runs): 69.05% (29 centuries converted from 42 innings of ≥ 50 runs)[174]
  • Highest 100/200 conversion rate (minimum 2000 runs): 41.38% (12 double centuries converted from 29 innings of ≥ 100 runs)[173]

Multiples of 100 runs

Scoring rate

  • Most centuries accumulated within single sessions of play: 6 (1 pre lunch, 2 lunch-tea, 3 tea-stumps)[180]
  • Most runs in one day's play: 309 (1930)[181]

Fastest to multiples of 1000 runs

  • Fewest matches required to reach 1000 (7 matches),[182] 2000 (15 matches),[183] 3000 (23 matches),[184] 4000 (31 matches),[185] 5000 (36 matches)[186] and 6000 (45 matches)[187] Test runs.
  • Fewest innings required to reach 2000 (22 innings),[183] 3000 (33 innings),[184] 4000 (48 innings),[185] 5000 (56 innings)[186] and 6000 (68 innings)[187] Test runs.

Other

  • Highest 5th wicket partnership: 405 (with Sid Barnes, 1946–47)[190]
  • Highest score by a number 7 batsman: 270 (1936–37)[191]
  • Most runs against one opponent: 5,028 (England)[192]
  • Most hundreds against one opponent: 19 (England)[193]
  • Most runs in one series: 974 (1930)[194]
  • Most consecutive matches in which he made a century: 6 (the last three Tests in 1936–37, and the first three Tests in 1938)[195]

Cricket context

Completed Test career batting averages
Don Bradman (AUS)
99.94
Adam Voges (AUS)
61.87
Graeme Pollock (RSA)
60.97
George Headley (WI)
60.83
Herbert Sutcliffe (ENG)
60.73
Eddie Paynter (ENG)
59.23
Ken Barrington (ENG)
58.67
Everton Weekes (WI)
58.61
Wally Hammond (ENG)
58.45
Garfield Sobers (WI)
57.78

Source: Cricinfo
Qualification: 20 completed innings,
career completed.

Bradman's Test batting average of 99.94 has become one of cricket's most famous, iconic statistics.[47] No other player who has played more than 20 Test match innings has finished their career with a Test average of more than 62.[170] Bradman scored centuries at a rate better than one every three innings—in 80 Test innings, Bradman scored 29 centuries.[196] Only 11 players have since surpassed his total, all at a much slower rate: the next fastest player to reach 29 centuries, Sachin Tendulkar, required nearly twice as long (148 innings) to do so.[196]

In addition, Bradman's total of 12 Test double hundreds—constituting 15% of his innings—remains the most achieved by any Test batsman and was accumulated faster than any other player's total.[173] For comparison, the next-highest totals of Test double hundreds are Kumar Sangakkara's 11 in 223 innings (4.9%), Brian Lara's 9 in 232 innings (3.9%), and Wally Hammond's 7 in 140 innings (5%); the next-highest rate of scoring Test double centuries was achieved by Vinod Kambli, whose 21 innings included 2 double centuries (9.5%).[173]

World sport context

Wisden hailed Bradman as "the greatest phenomenon in the history of cricket, indeed in the history of all ball games".[3] Statistician Charles Davis analysed the statistics for several prominent sportsmen by comparing the number of standard deviations that they stand above the mean for their sport.[197] The top performers in his selected sports are:[198]

Athlete Sport Statistic Standard
deviations
Bradman Cricket Batting average 4.4
Pelé Association football Goals per game 3.7
Ty Cobb Baseball Batting average 3.6
Jack Nicklaus Golf Major titles 3.5
Michael Jordan Basketball Points per game 3.4

The statistics show that "no other athlete dominates an international sport to the extent that Bradman does cricket".[7] In order to post a similarly dominant career statistic as Bradman, a baseball batter would need a career batting average of .392, while a basketball player would need to score an average of 43.0 points per game over their career.[198] The respective records are .366 and 30.1.[198]

When Bradman died, Time allocated a space in its "Milestones" column for an obituary:[199]

...Australian icon considered by many to be the pre-eminent sportsman of all time...One of Australia's most beloved heroes, he was revered abroad as well. When Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years in prison, his first question to an Australian visitor was, "Is Sir Donald Bradman still alive?"

Playing style

 
Bradman hooks English left-arm fast bowler Bill Voce during the 1936–37 series. The position of Bradman's left foot in relation to the stumps is an example of how he used the crease when batting.

Bradman's early development was shaped by the high bounce of the ball on matting-over-concrete pitches. He favoured "horizontal-bat" shots (such as the hook, pull and cut) to deal with the bounce and devised a unique grip on the bat handle that would accommodate these strokes without compromising his ability to defend. Employing a side-on stance at the wicket, Bradman kept perfectly still as the bowler ran in.[200] His backswing had a "crooked" look that troubled his early critics, but he resisted entreaties to change.[201] His backswing kept his hands in close to the body, leaving him perfectly balanced and able to change his stroke mid-swing, if need be.[202] Another telling factor was the decisiveness of Bradman's footwork. He "used the crease" by either coming metres down the pitch to drive, or playing so far back that his feet ended up level with the stumps when playing the cut, hook or pull.[203]

Bradman's game evolved with experience. He temporarily adapted his technique during the Bodyline series, deliberately moving around the crease in an attempt to score from the short-pitched deliveries.[204] At his peak, in the mid-1930s, he had the ability to switch between a defensive and attacking approach as the occasion demanded. After the Second World War, he adjusted to bat within the limitations set by his age, becoming a steady "accumulator" of runs.[205] However, Bradman never truly mastered batting on sticky wickets. Wisden commented, "[i]f there really is a blemish on his amazing record it is ... the absence of a significant innings on one of those 'sticky dogs' of old".[3]

After cricket

 
Bradman's bats used in his historic performances, at the State Library of South Australia

After his return to Australia, Bradman played in his own Testimonial match at Melbourne, scoring his 117th and last century, and receiving £9,342 in proceeds (~$A606,489 in 2021 terms).[206] In the 1949 New Year Honours, he was appointed Knight Bachelor[207][208] for his services to the game, becoming the only Australian cricketer ever to be knighted.[209] He commented that he "would have preferred to remain just Mister".[24] The following year he published a memoir, Farewell to Cricket.[210] Bradman accepted offers from the Daily Mail to travel with, and write about, the 1953 and 1956 Australian teams in England. The Art of Cricket, his final book published in 1958, is an instructional manual.[12]

Bradman retired from his stockbroking business in June 1954, depending on the "comfortable" income earned as a board member of 16 publicly listed companies.[211] His highest profile affiliation was with Argo Investments Limited, where he was chairman for a number of years. Charles Williams commented that, "[b]usiness was excluded on medical grounds, [so] the only sensible alternative was a career in the administration of the game which he loved and to which he had given most of his active life".[212]

Bradman was honoured at a number of cricket grounds, notably when his portrait was hung in the Long Room at Lord's; until Shane Warne's portrait was added in 2005, Bradman was one of just three Australians to be honoured in this way.[213][214][215] Bradman inaugurated a "Bradman Stand" at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January 1974;[216] the Adelaide Oval also opened a Bradman Stand in 1990, which housed new media and corporate facilities.[217] The Oval's Bradman Stand was demolished in 2013 as the stadium underwent an extensive re-development.[218] Later in 1974, he attended a Lord's Taverners function in London where he experienced heart problems,[219] which forced him to limit his public appearances to select occasions only. With his wife, Bradman returned to Bowral in 1976, where the new cricket ground was named in his honour.[220] He gave the keynote speech at the historic Centenary Test at Melbourne in 1977.[221]

On 16 June 1979, the Australian government awarded Bradman the nation's second-highest civilian honour at that time, Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), "in recognition of service to the sport of cricket and cricket administration".[222] In 1980, he resigned from the ACB, to lead a more secluded life.

Administrative career

In addition to acting as one of South Australia's delegates to the Board of Control from 1945 to 1980, Bradman was a committee member of the SACA between 1935 and 1986. It is estimated that he attended 1,713 SACA meetings during this half century of service. Aside from two years in the early 1950s, he filled a selector's berth for the Test team between 1936 and 1971.[223]

Cricket saw an increase in defensive play during the 1950s. As a selector, Bradman favoured attacking, positive cricketers who entertained the paying public. He formed an alliance with Australian captain Richie Benaud, seeking more attractive play,[224] with some success.[225] He served two high-profile periods as chairman of the board of Control, in 1960–63 and 1969–72.[226] During the first, he dealt with the growing prevalence of illegal bowling actions in the game, a problem that he adjudged "the most complex I have known in cricket, because it is not a matter of fact but of opinion".[12] The major controversy of his second stint was a proposed tour of Australia by South Africa in 1971–72. On Bradman's recommendation, the series was cancelled.[227] Cricket journalist Michael Coward said of Bradman as an administrator:

Bradman was more than a cricket player nonpareil. He was...an astute and progressive administrator; an expansive thinker, philosopher and writer on the game. Indeed, in some respects, he was as powerful, persuasive and influential a figure off the ground as he was on it.[228]

In the late 1970s, Bradman played an important role during the World Series Cricket schism as a member of a special Australian Cricket Board committee formed to handle the crisis. He was criticised for not airing an opinion, but he dealt with World Series Cricket far more pragmatically than other administrators.[229] Richie Benaud described Bradman as "a brilliant administrator and businessman", warning that he was not to be underestimated.[230] As Australian captain, Ian Chappell fought with Bradman over the issue of player remuneration in the early 1970s and has suggested that Bradman was parsimonious:[231]

I...thought to myself, 'Ian, did you just ask Bradman to fill your wallet with money?' Bradman's harangue confirmed my suspicions that the players were going to have a hard time extracting more money from the ACB.

Cancellation of Apartheid South Africa's Australian Cricket Tour

Despite South Africa's Apartheid regime excluding black players from participating in national sports, many countries including Australia retained sporting relations with the regime until the mid 1970s. In this vein, the South African national cricket team was meant to tour Australia over the 1971–72 Australian summer. Public polls from the time suggested that, despite a group of very active protestors, around 75% of Australians wanted the tour to go ahead—believing that Australia should not interfere with South Africa's domestic politics.[232]

Bradman, as Chair of the Australian Cricket Board, was initially sympathetic to this majority position of allowing the planned tour to proceed. He expressed the view that white South African cricketers, many of whom had voiced their opposition to Apartheid and "had tried harder than our [Australian] protestors to do something about it", should not be punished for the decisions of their national government.[233] However, seeking to understand the situation better, Bradman travelled to South Africa in June 1971.[232][234] While there, Bradman met with then South African Prime Minister John Vorster.[232] Their exchange was documeted as follows:

  • Bradman: "why don't you choose blacks in the team? I want to know".
  • Vorster: "blacks understand rugby but they don't understand the intricacies of cricket. [They] can't handle it".
  • Bradman: "have you heard of Garry Sobers?"

Sobers, a West Indian cricketer, was regarded as perhaps the greatest cricketing all-rounder of all time, and was reportedly admired by Bradman—who had helped get Sobers out to play in South Australia the previous decade.[232]

When Bradman returned to Australia later in the year, and in the absence of any intervention by the Australian Government to prevent the tour, he argued to the other members of the Australian Cricket Board that they should cancel the tour.[235][232][236] On behalf of the Board, Bradman made a one-line statement to the press: "We will not play them [South Africa] until they choose a team on a non-racial basis.".[232][237]

At the time, many disapproved of Bradman's decision to cancel to the tour. Vorster unsurprisingly decried the decision, calling it one by "anarchists, communists and fellow travellers".[238] Even Australian Prime Minister William McMahon expressed regret at the decision, saying it had been wanted by a "great many Australians".[239] Meanwhile, some Australian newspapers lamented that "a small violent group of trouble-makers has won the day" and that "Bradman had 'conced[ed] defeat without a ball being bowled".[240] The decision was, however, praised in other media, and was well-received by anti-apartheid activists in South Africa.[241] Those who appreciated Bradman's decision included a then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela. After Bradman's death, Mandela prasied him on public television—stating that "he was a hero, a true hero".[242]

Although Bradman became unwell and died before the two could meet, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser gifted Mandela a signed bat from the cricketer, which read: "To Nelson Mandela—in recognition of a great, unfinished innings".[243]

Later years and death

After his wife's death in 1997, Bradman suffered "a discernible and not unexpected wilting of spirit".[244] The next year, on his 90th birthday, he hosted a meeting with his two favourite modern players, Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar,[245] but he was not seen in his familiar place at the Adelaide Oval again.[246] In an oft-recited anecdote, Tendulkar was impressed with Bradman's sharpness and sense of humour at this historic meeting:[247][248]

I (Tendulkar) asked him a question: 'What would you have averaged in today's cricket?' He thought about it and said 'Maybe 70'. The natural reaction was 'Why only 70 and not 99?' He said, 'C'mon, that's not bad for a 90-year-old man.'

Hospitalised with pneumonia in December 2000, he returned home in the New Year and died there on 25 February 2001, aged 92.[249]

A memorial service to mark Bradman's life was held on 25 March 2001 at St Peter's Anglican Cathedral, Adelaide. The service was attended by a host of former and current Test cricketers, as well as Australia's then prime minister, John Howard, leader of the opposition Kim Beazley and former prime minister Bob Hawke. Eulogies were given by Richie Benaud and Governor-General Sir William Deane. The service was broadcast live on ABC Television to a viewing audience of 1.45 million.[250] A private service for family and friends was earlier held at the Centennial Park Cemetery in the suburb of Pasadena, with many people lining both Greenhill and Goodwood Roads to pay their respects as his funeral motorcade passed by.

Legacy

Cricket writer David Frith summed up the paradox of the continuing fascination with Bradman:[251]

As the years passed, with no lessening of his reclusiveness, so his public stature continued to grow, until the sense of reverence and unquestioning worship left many of his contemporaries scratching their heads in wondering admiration.

As early as 1939, Bradman had a Royal Navy ship named after him. Built as a fishing trawler in 1936, HMS Bradman was taken over by the Admiralty in 1939,[252] but was sunk by German aircraft the following year.[253]

In the 1963 edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, Bradman was selected by Neville Cardus as one of the Six Giants of the Wisden Century. This was a special commemorative selection requested by Wisden for its 100th edition.[254] The other five players chosen were: Sydney Barnes, W. G. Grace, Jack Hobbs, Tom Richardson and Victor Trumper.

On 10 December 1985, Bradman was the first of 120 inaugural inductees into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.[255] He spoke of his philosophy for considering the stature of athletes:

When considering the stature of an athlete or for that matter any person, I set great store in certain qualities which I believe to be essential in addition to skill. They are that the person conducts his or her life with dignity, with integrity, courage, and perhaps most of all, with modesty. These virtues are totally compatible with pride, ambition, and competitiveness.

Although modest about his own abilities and generous in his praise of other cricketers, Bradman was fully aware of the talents he possessed as a player;[256] there is some evidence that he sought to influence his legacy.[257] During the 1980s and 1990s, Bradman carefully selected the people to whom he gave interviews,[257] assisting Michael Page, Roland Perry and Charles Williams, who all produced biographical works about him. Bradman also agreed to an extensive interview with Norman May for ABC radio, broadcast as Bradman: The Don Declares in eight 55-minute episodes during 1988.[258]

 
The Bradman Stand (named in 1990) at the Adelaide Oval

The most significant of these legacy projects was the Bradman Museum, opened in 1989 at the Bradman Oval in Bowral.[259] This organisation was reformed in 1993 as a non-profit charitable Trust, called the Bradman Foundation.[260] In 2010, it was expanded and rebranded as the International Cricket Hall of Fame.

When the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame was created in Melbourne in 1996, Bradman was made one of its 10 inaugural members.[261] In 2000, Bradman was selected by cricket experts as one of five Wisden Cricketers of the Century. Each of the 100 members of the panel were able to select five cricketers: all 100 voted for Bradman.[262] The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame inducted him on 19 November 2009.[263]

Bradman's life and achievements were recognised in Australia with two notable issues. Three years before he died, he became the first living Australian to be featured on an Australian postage stamp.[264] After his death, the Australian Government produced a 20-cent coin to commemorate his life.[265] On 27 August 2018, to celebrate 110 years since his birth, Bradman was commemorated with a Google Doodle.[266] To mark 150 years of the Cricketers' Almanack, Wisden named him as captain of an all-time Test World XI.[267]

In 1999, Bradman was named in the six-man shortlist for BBC Sports Personality of the Century.[268] Asteroid 2472 Bradman, discovered by Luboš Kohoutek, is named in his honour.[269]

The State Library of South Australia in Adelaide approached Bradman in the late 1960s about his transferring his personal collection of memorabilia to them.[270] Bradman then collaborated in the creation of scrapbooks about his career which he donated to the library along with bats, balls, trophies and tape recordings detailing his career. The original scrapbooks are held by the National Library of Australia in Canberra. The Bradman Collection was formally opened in a dedicated display space at the State Library of South Australia by Prime Minister John Howard in 1998.[270]

Family life

 
Bradman with wife (left) in 1938 near Maidenhead, England

Bradman first met Jessie Martha Menzies in 1920 when she boarded with the Bradman family, to be closer to school in Bowral. The couple married at St Paul's Anglican Church at Burwood, Sydney on 30 April 1932.[27] The two were devoted to each other.[271] During their 65-year marriage, Jessie was "shrewd, reliable, selfless, and above all, uncomplicated...she was the perfect foil to his concentrated, and occasionally mercurial character".[272] Bradman paid tribute to his wife numerous times, once saying succinctly, "I would never have achieved what I achieved without Jessie".[273]

The Bradmans lived in the same modest, suburban house in Holden Street, Kensington Park, Adelaide, for all but the first three years of their married life.[274] They experienced personal tragedy in raising their children: their first-born son died as an infant in 1936;[275] their second son, John (born in 1939), contracted polio;[276] and their daughter, Shirley, born in 1941, had cerebral palsy from birth.[277] His family name proved a burden for John Bradman; he legally changed his last name to Bradsen in 1972. Although claims were made that he became estranged from his father, it was more a matter of "the pair inhabit[ing] different worlds", and the two remained in contact through the years.[278] After the cricketer's death, a collection of personal letters written by Bradman to his close friend Rohan Rivett between 1953 and 1977 was released and gave researchers new insights into Bradman's family life, including the strain between father and son.[279] However, John Bradman later rejected the view that his relationship with his father was strained.[280]

Bradman's reclusiveness in later life is partly attributable to the ongoing health problems of his wife, particularly following the open-heart surgery Jessie underwent in her 60s.[219] Lady Bradman died in 1997, aged 88, from cancer.[281] This had a dispiriting effect on Bradman,[282] but the relationship with his son improved, to the extent that John resolved to change his name back to Bradman.[283][284] Since his father's death, John Bradman has become the spokesperson for the family and has been involved in defending the Bradman legacy in a number of disputes.[285][286] The relationship between Bradman and his wider family is less clear, although nine months after Bradman's death, his nephew Paul Bradman criticised him as a "snob" and a "loner" who forgot his connections in Bowral and who failed to attend the funerals of Paul's mother and father.[287]

In addition to Bradman's two children, he was survived by three grandchildren: Greta Bradman, Tom Bradman, and Nick Bradman.[288] Greta Bradman is an operatic soprano, psychologist, and radio broadcaster.[284] She has released multiple albums and performed at numerous national events in Australia, including the State Memorial Service of Shane Warne.[289] Tom Bradman worked at the Australian Department of Agriculture before taking up farming, appearing on the Australian TV show Landline, where he discussed his approach to regenerative agriculture.[290] In 2017, Nick Bradman appeared on the front cover of the Australian newspaper The Advertiser, after attaining a university entrance score of 99.95 (eclipsing his grandfather's batting average of 99.94).[291] He subsequently received the University Medal in law from the Australian National University.[292][293]

In popular culture

 
Bradman statue outside the Adelaide Oval

Bradman's name has become an archetypal name for outstanding excellence, both within cricket and in the wider world. The term Bradmanesque has been coined and is used both within and outside cricketing circles.[294][295][296] Steve Waugh described Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan as "the Don Bradman of bowling".[297]

Bradman has been the subject of the second-most biographies of any Australian, behind only the bushranger Ned Kelly.[298] Bradman himself wrote four books: Don Bradman's Book: The Story of My Cricketing Life with Hints on Batting, Bowling and Fielding (1930), My Cricketing Life (1938), Farewell to Cricket (1950) and The Art of Cricket (1958).[24] The story of the Bodyline series was retold in a 1984 television mini-series, with Gary Sweet portraying Bradman.[299]

Bradman has been immortalised in various popular songs of very different styles and eras. Here are some of the more well-known songs about him:

Bradman recorded several songs accompanying himself and others on piano in the early 1930s, including "Every Day Is A Rainbow Day For Me"[304] with Jack Lumsdaine.[305] In 2000, the Australian Government made it illegal for the names of corporations to suggest a link to "Sir Donald Bradman" if such a link does not, in fact, exist.[306] Other entities with similar protection include the Australian and foreign governments, Saint Mary MacKillop, the Royal Family, and the Returned and Services League of Australia.[307]

In 2014, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra premiered a "multimedia musical portrait" called Our Don that had been nearly three years in the making. Greta Bradman performed during the event.[308]

Bibliography

  • Bradman, Don (1935). How to Play Cricket. Associated Newspapers Ltd, London.

See also

References

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Sources

External links

  • Don Bradman at ESPNcricinfo
  • A profile of Don Bradman by Dave Liverman
  • Bradman Museum and Bradman Oval
  • State Library of South Australia
  • Interview with Bradman 1930
  • Don Bradman — TV documentary — Australian Broadcasting Corporation
  • Some images of Don Bradman, including some showing Don Bradman's batting technique
  • Listen to a young Don Bradman speaking after the 1930 Ashes tour on australianscreen online
Sporting positions
Preceded by Australian Test cricket captain
1936/7–1938
1946/7–1948
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Bill Dowling
Bob Parish
Chairman of the Australian Cricket Board
1960–1963
1969–1972
Succeeded by
Ewart Macmillan
Tim Caldwell
Records
Preceded by World record – Highest individual score in Test cricket
334 vs England at Leeds, 1930
Succeeded by
Preceded by Highest individual score in first-class cricket
452 not out New South Wales v Queensland at Sydney 1929–30
Succeeded by

bradman, bradman, redirects, here, other, uses, bradman, disambiguation, disambiguation, donald, george, bradman, august, 1908, february, 2001, nicknamed, australian, international, cricketer, widely, acknowledged, greatest, batsman, time, cricketing, successe. Bradman redirects here For other uses see Bradman disambiguation and Don Bradman disambiguation Sir Donald George Bradman AC 27 August 1908 25 February 2001 nicknamed The Don was an Australian international cricketer widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time 3 His cricketing successes have been claimed by Shane Warne among others to make Bradman the greatest sportsperson in history 4 5 6 Bradman s career Test batting average of 99 94 is considered by some to be the greatest achievement by any sportsman in any major sport 7 Sir Don BradmanACBradman in 1930Personal informationFull nameDonald George BradmanBorn 1908 08 27 27 August 1908Cootamundra New South Wales AustraliaDied25 February 2001 2001 02 25 aged 92 Kensington Park South AustraliaNicknameThe DonThe Boy from BowralBraddlesthe White HeadleyHeight1 70 1 2 m 5 ft 7 in BattingRight handedBowlingRight arm leg breakRoleBatsmanRelations2 children including John3 grandchildren including GretaInternational informationNational sideAustralia 1928 1948 Test debut cap 124 30 November 1928 v EnglandLast Test18 August 1948 v EnglandDomestic team informationYearsTeam1927 28 1933 34New South Wales1935 36 1948 49South AustraliaCareer statisticsCompetition Test First classMatches 52 234Runs scored 6 996 28 067Batting average 99 94 95 14100s 50s 29 13 117 69Top score 334 452 Balls bowled 160 2 114Wickets 2 36Bowling average 36 00 37 975 wickets in innings 0 010 wickets in match 0 0Best bowling 1 8 3 35Catches stumpings 32 131 1Source ESPNcricinfo 4 December 2014Although Bradman reportedly disliked fame his iconic status made him one of Australia s best known personalities and arguably the country s first celebrity 8 The story that the young Bradman practised alone with a cricket stump and a golf ball is part of Australian folklore 9 His meteoric rise from bush cricket to the Australian Test team took just over two years Before his 22nd birthday he had set many records for top scoring some of which still stand and became Australia s sporting idol at the height of the Great Depression This hero status grew and continued through the Second World War During a 20 year playing career Bradman consistently scored at a level that made him in the words of former Australia captain Bill Woodfull worth three batsmen to Australia 10 A controversial set of tactics known as Bodyline was specially devised by the England team to curb his scoring As a captain and administrator Bradman was committed to attacking entertaining cricket he drew spectators in record numbers He hated the constant adulation however and it affected how he dealt with others The focus of attention on Bradman s individual performances strained relationships with some teammates administrators and journalists who thought him aloof and wary 11 Following an enforced hiatus due to the Second World War he made a dramatic comeback captaining an Australian team known as The Invincibles on a record breaking unbeaten tour of England A complex and highly driven man not given to close personal relationships 12 Bradman retained a pre eminent position in the game by acting as an administrator selector and writer for three decades following his retirement Even after he became reclusive in his declining years Bradman s opinion was highly sought and his status as a national icon was still recognised Almost fifty years after his retirement as a Test player in 1997 Prime Minister John Howard called him the greatest living Australian 13 Bradman s image has appeared on postage stamps and coins and a museum dedicated to his life was opened while he was still living On the centenary of his birth 27 August 2008 the Royal Australian Mint issued a 5 commemorative gold coin with Bradman s image 14 In 2009 he was inducted posthumously as an inaugural member into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame Contents 1 Early years 1 1 Bush cricketer 1 2 First class debut 2 Test career 2 1 1930 tour of England 2 2 Reluctant hero 2 3 Bodyline 2 4 Declining health and a brush with death 2 5 Internal politics and the Test captaincy 2 6 End of an era 2 7 Troubled war years 2 8 The ghost of a once great cricketer 2 9 Century of centuries and The Invincibles 3 Statistical summary 3 1 Test match performance 3 2 First class performance 3 3 Test records 3 3 1 Batting average 3 3 2 Conversion rate 3 3 3 Multiples of 100 runs 3 3 4 Scoring rate 3 3 5 Fastest to multiples of 1000 runs 3 3 6 Other 3 4 Cricket context 3 5 World sport context 4 Playing style 5 After cricket 5 1 Administrative career 5 2 Cancellation of Apartheid South Africa s Australian Cricket Tour 5 3 Later years and death 5 4 Legacy 6 Family life 7 In popular culture 8 Bibliography 9 See also 10 References 11 Sources 12 External linksEarly years nbsp Bradman s birthplace at Cootamundra is now a museumDonald George Bradman was the youngest son of George and Emily nee Whatman Bradman and was born on 27 August 1908 at Cootamundra New South Wales NSW 15 He had a brother Victor and three sisters Islet Lilian and Elizabeth May 15 Bradman was of English heritage on both sides of his family His grandfather Charles Andrew Bradman had left Withersfield Suffolk for Australia 16 In 1930 when he played at Cambridge during his first tour of England 21 year old Bradman took the opportunity to trace his forebears in the region 17 Bradman was also partly of Italian lineage one of his great grandfathers had been one of the first Italians to migrate to Australia in 1826 18 Bradman s parents lived in the hamlet of Yeo Yeo near Stockinbingal His mother Emily gave birth to him at the Cootamundra home of Granny Scholz a midwife which is now the Bradman Birthplace Museum Bradman s mother had hailed from Mittagong in the NSW Southern Highlands and in 1911 when Bradman was about two and a half years old his parents decided to relocate to Bowral close to Emily s family and friends in Mittagong as life at Yeo Yeo was proving difficult 15 19 20 Emily who bowled left arm spin played in the women s intercolonial cricket competition between the main states in 1890s 21 Bradman practised batting incessantly during his youth He invented his own solo cricket game using a cricket stump for a bat and a golf ball 22 A water tank mounted on a curved brick stand stood on a paved area behind the family home When hit into the curved brick facing of the stand the ball rebounded at high speed and varying angles and Bradman would attempt to hit it again This form of practice developed his timing and reactions to a high degree 23 In more formal cricket Bradman hit his first century at the age of 12 with an undefeated 115 24 playing for Bowral Public School against Mittagong High School 25 Bush cricketer During the 1920 21 season Bradman acted as scorer for the local Bowral team captained by his uncle George Whatman In October 1920 he filled in when the team was one man short scoring 37 and 29 on debut During the season Bradman s father took him to the Sydney Cricket Ground SCG to watch the fifth Ashes Test match On that day Bradman formed an ambition telling his father I shall never be satisfied until I play on this ground 26 Bradman left school in 1922 and went to work for a local real estate agent who encouraged his sporting pursuits by giving him time off when necessary He gave up cricket in favour of tennis for two years but resumed playing cricket in 1925 26 27 nbsp Bradman in 1928Bradman became a regular selection for the Bowral team several outstanding performances earned him the attention of Sydney newspapers Competing on matting over concrete pitches Bowral played other rural towns in the Berrima District competition Against Wingello a team that included the future Test bowler Bill O Reilly Bradman made 234 10 28 In the competition final against Moss Vale which extended over five consecutive Saturdays Bradman scored 320 not out 25 During the following Australian winter 1926 the ageing Australian team lost The Ashes in England and a number of Test players retired 29 The New South Wales Cricket Association began a hunt for new talent Mindful of Bradman s big scores for Bowral the association wrote to him requesting his attendance at a practice session in Sydney He was subsequently chosen for the Country Week tournaments at both cricket and tennis to be played during separate weeks Bradman s boss presented him with an ultimatum he could have only one week away from work and therefore had to choose between the two sports 27 He chose cricket Bradman s performances during Country Week resulted in an invitation to play grade cricket in Sydney for St George in the 1926 27 season He scored 110 on his debut making his first century on a turf pitch 30 On 1 January 1927 Bradman turned out for the NSW second team For the remainder of the season he travelled the 130 kilometres 81 mi from Bowral to Sydney every Saturday to play for St George 28 First class debut The next season continued the rapid rise of the Boy from Bowral 25 Selected to replace the unfit Archie Jackson in the NSW team Bradman made his first class debut at the Adelaide Oval aged 19 He secured the achievement of a hundred on debut with an innings of 118 featuring what soon became his trademarks fast footwork calm confidence and rapid scoring 31 In the final match of the season he made his first century at the SCG against the Sheffield Shield champions Victoria Despite his potential Bradman was not chosen for the Australian second team to tour New Zealand 32 Bradman decided that his chances for Test selection would be improved by moving to Sydney for the 1928 29 season when England were to tour in defence of the Ashes Initially he continued working in real estate but later took a promotions job with the sporting goods retailer Mick Simmons Ltd In the first match of the Sheffield Shield season he scored a century in each innings against Queensland He followed this with scores of 87 and 132 not out against the England touring team and was rewarded with selection for the first Test to be played at Brisbane 27 Test career nbsp Bradman is chaired off the ground by his opponents after scoring 452 Playing in only his tenth first class match Bradman nicknamed Braddles by his teammates 33 found his initial Test a harsh learning experience Caught on a sticky wicket Australia were all out for 66 in the second innings and lost by 675 runs still a Test record 34 Following scores of 18 and 1 the selectors dropped Bradman to twelfth man for the Second Test An injury to Bill Ponsford early in the match required Bradman to field as substitute while England amassed 636 following their 863 runs in the First Test RS Dick Whitington wrote he had scored only nineteen himself and these experiences appear to have provided him with food for thought 35 Recalled for the Third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground Bradman scored 79 and 112 to become the youngest player to make a Test century 36 although the match was still lost Another loss followed in the Fourth Test Bradman reached 58 in the second innings and appeared set to guide the team to victory when he was run out 37 It was to be the only run out of his Test career The losing margin was just twelve runs 38 nbsp Bradman with his Wm Sykes bat in the early 1930s The Don Bradman Autograph bat is still manufactured today by Sykes successor company Slazenger The improving Australians did manage to win the Fifth and final Test Bradman top scored with 123 in the first innings and was at the wicket in the second innings when his captain Jack Ryder hit the winning runs Bradman completed the season with 1 690 first class runs averaging 93 88 39 and his first multiple century in a Sheffield Shield match not out against Victoria set a new ground record for the SCG 40 Bradman averaged 113 28 in 1929 30 39 In a trial match to select the team that would tour England he was last man out in the first innings for 124 As his team followed on the skipper Bill Woodfull asked Bradman to keep the pads on and open the second innings By the end of play he was 205 not out on his way to 225 Against Queensland at the SCG Bradman set a then world record for first class cricket by scoring 452 not out 41 he made his runs in only 415 minutes 27 Not long after the feat he recalled On 434 I had a curious intuition I seemed to sense that the ball would be a short pitched one on the leg stump and I could almost feel myself getting ready to make my shot before the ball was delivered Sure enough it pitched exactly where I had anticipated and hooking it to the square leg boundary I established the only record upon which I had set my heart 42 Although he was an obvious selection to tour England Bradman s unorthodox style raised doubts that he could succeed on the slower English pitches Percy Fender wrote 43 he will always be in the category of the brilliant if unsound ones Promise there is in Bradman in plenty though watching him does not inspire one with any confidence that he desires to take the only course which will lead him to a fulfilment of that promise He makes a mistake then makes it again and again he does not correct it or look as if he were trying to do so He seems to live for the exuberance of the moment The encomiums were not confined to his batting gifts nor did the criticism extend to his character Australia has unearthed a champion said former Australian Test great Clem Hill self taught with natural ability But most important of all with his heart in the right place 42 Selector Dick Jones weighed in with the observation that it was good to watch him talking to an old player listening attentively to everything that is said and then replying with a modest thank you 42 1930 tour of England England were favourites to win the 1930 Ashes series 44 and if the Australians were to exceed expectations their young batsmen Bradman and Jackson needed to prosper With his elegant batting technique Jackson appeared the brighter prospect of the pair 45 However Bradman began the tour with 236 at Worcester and went on to score 1 000 first class runs by the end of May the fifth player and first Australian to achieve this rare feat 46 In his first Test appearance in England Bradman hit 131 in the second innings but England won the match His batting reached a new level in the Second Test at Lord s where he scored 254 as Australia won and levelled the series Later in life Bradman rated this the best innings of his career as practically without exception every ball went where it was intended to go 47 Wisden noted Bradman s fast footwork and how he hit the ball all round the wicket with power and accuracy as well as faultless concentration in keeping the ball on the ground 48 In terms of runs scored this performance was soon surpassed In the Third Test at Headingley Bradman scored a century before lunch on 11 July the first day of the Test match to equal the performances of Victor Trumper and Charlie Macartney 49 In the afternoon Bradman added another century between lunch and tea before finishing the day on 309 not out He remains the only Test player to pass 300 in one day s play 50 His eventual score of 334 was a world record exceeding the previous mark of 325 by Andy Sandham 51 Bradman dominated the Australian innings the second highest tally was 77 by Alan Kippax Businessman Arthur Whitelaw later presented Bradman with a cheque for 1 000 in appreciation of his achievement 52 The match ended in anti climax as poor weather prevented a result as it also did in the Fourth Test nbsp Bradman second from the right middle row with the 1930 teamIn the deciding Test at The Oval England made 405 During an innings stretching over three days due to intermittent rain Bradman made yet another multiple century this time 232 which helped give Australia a big lead of 290 runs In a crucial partnership with Jackson Bradman battled through a difficult session when England fast bowler Harold Larwood bowled short on a pitch enlivened by the rain Wisden gave this period of play only a passing mention 53 On the Wednesday morning the ball flew about a good deal both batsmen frequently being hit on the body on more than one occasion each player cocked the ball up dangerously but always as it happened just wide of the fieldsmen A number of English players and commentators noted Bradman s discomfort in playing the short rising delivery 10 The revelation came too late for this particular match but was to have immense significance in the next Ashes series Australia won the match by an innings and regained the Ashes The victory made an impact in Australia With the economy sliding toward depression and unemployment rapidly rising the country found solace in sporting triumph The story of a self taught 22 year old from the bush who set a series of records against the old rival made Bradman a national hero 54 The statistics he achieved on the tour especially in the Test matches broke records for the day and some have stood the test of time In all Bradman scored 974 runs at an average of 139 14 during the Test series with four centuries including two double hundreds and a triple 55 As of 2022 no one has matched or exceeded 974 runs or three double centuries in one Test series the record of 974 runs exceeds the second best performance by 69 runs and was achieved in two fewer innings 56 Bradman s first class tally 2 960 runs at an average of 98 66 with 10 centuries was another enduring record the most by any overseas batsman on a tour of England 57 On the tour the dynamic nature of Bradman s batting contrasted sharply with his quiet solitary off field demeanour He was described as aloof from his teammates and he did not offer to buy them a round of drinks let alone share the money given to him by Whitelaw 12 He spent a lot of his free time alone writing as he had sold the rights to a book On his return to Australia Bradman was surprised by the intensity of his reception he became a reluctant hero 12 Mick Simmons wanted to cash in on their employee s newly won fame asking Bradman to leave his teammates and attend official receptions they organised in Adelaide Melbourne Goulburn his hometown of Bowral and Sydney where he received a brand new custom built Chevrolet At each stop Bradman received a level of adulation that embarrassed him This focus on individual accomplishment in a team game permanently damaged relationships with his contemporaries 12 Commenting on Australia s victory the team s vice captain Vic Richardson said we could have played any team without Bradman but we could not have played the blind school without Clarrie Grimmett 58 A modest Bradman can be heard in a 1930 recording saying I have always endeavoured to do my best for the side and the few centuries that have come my way have been achieved in the hope of winning matches My one idea when going into bat was to make runs for Australia 59 Reluctant hero nbsp Hundreds of onlookers gather as the Bradmans leave the church after their wedding ceremony at St Paul s Church Burwood 30 April 1932 In 1930 31 against the first West Indian side to visit Australia Bradman s scoring was more sedate than in England although he did make 223 in 297 minutes in the Third Test at Brisbane and 152 in 154 minutes in the following Test at Melbourne 60 However he scored quickly in a very successful sequence of innings against South Africa in the Australian summer of 1931 32 For NSW against the tourists he made 30 135 and 219 In the Test matches he scored 226 277 minutes 112 155 minutes 2 and 167 183 minutes his 299 not out in the Fourth Test at Adelaide set a new record for the highest score in a Test in Australia 61 62 Australia won nine of the ten Tests played over the two series At this point Bradman had played fifteen Test matches since the beginning of 1930 scoring 2 227 runs at an average of 131 63 He had played eighteen innings scoring ten centuries six of which had extended beyond 200 63 His overall scoring rate was 42 runs per hour 64 with 856 or 38 5 of his tally scored in boundaries 63 Significantly he had not hit a six 63 which typified Bradman s attitude if he hit the ball along the ground then it could not be caught During this phase of his career his youth and natural fitness allowed him to adopt a machine like approach to batting The South African fast bowler Sandy Bell described bowling to him as heart breaking with his sort of cynical grin which rather reminds one of the Sphinx he never seems to perspire 65 Between these two seasons Bradman seriously contemplated playing professional cricket in England with the Lancashire League club Accrington a move that according to the rules of the day would have ended his Test career 27 A consortium of three Sydney businesses offered an alternative They devised a two year contract whereby Bradman wrote for Associated Newspapers broadcast on Radio 2UE and promoted the menswear retailing chain FJ Palmer and Son 27 However the contract increased Bradman s dependence on his public profile making it more difficult to maintain the privacy that he ardently desired 65 In a second class fixture in November 1931 Bradman scored 100 off 22 balls in a three over spell in a match for Blackheath against Lithgow Bradman s score of 256 included 14 sixes and 29 fours notably hitting more sixes in this one innings than he hit in his entire first class career 66 67 68 Bradman s chaotic wedding to Jessie Menzies in April 1932 epitomised these new and unwelcome intrusions into his private life The church was under siege all throughout the day uninvited guests stood on chairs and pews to get a better view police erected barriers that were broken down and many of those invited could not get a seat 65 Just weeks later Bradman joined a private team organised by Arthur Mailey to tour the United States and Canada 69 He travelled with his wife and the couple treated the trip as a honeymoon Playing 51 games in 75 days Bradman scored 3 779 runs at 102 1 with eighteen centuries Although the standard of play was not high the effects of the amount of cricket Bradman had played in the three previous years together with the strains of his celebrity status began to show on his return home 70 Bodyline See also Bodyline As long as Australia has Bradman she will be invincible It is almost time to request a legal limit on the number of runs Bradman should be allowed to make News Chronicle London 71 Within the Marylebone Cricket Club MCC which administered English cricket at the time few voices were more influential than Plum Warner s who when considering England s response to Bradman wrote that it must evolve a new type of bowler and develop fresh ideas and strange tactics to curb his almost uncanny skill To that end Warner orchestrated the appointment of Douglas Jardine as England captain in 1931 as a prelude to Jardine leading the 1932 33 tour to Australia with Warner as team manager 72 Remembering that Bradman had struggled against bouncers during his 232 at The Oval in 1930 Jardine decided to combine traditional leg theory with short pitched bowling to combat Bradman He settled on the Nottinghamshire fast bowlers Harold Larwood and Bill Voce as the spearheads for his tactics In support the England selectors chose another three pacemen for the squad The unusually high number of fast bowlers caused a lot of comment in both countries and roused Bradman s own suspicions 25 Bradman had other problems to deal with at this time among these were bouts of illness from an undiagnosed malaise which had begun during the tour of North America 73 and that the Australian Board of Control had initially refused permission for him to write a column for the Sydney Sun newspaper 73 Bradman who had signed a two year contract with the Sun threatened to withdraw from cricket to honour his contract when the board denied him permission to write eventually the paper released Bradman from the contract in a victory for the board 73 In three first class games against England before the Tests Bradman averaged just 17 16 in six innings 74 Jardine decided to give the new tactics a trial in only one game a fixture against an Australian XI at Melbourne In this match Bradman faced the leg theory and later warned local administrators that trouble was brewing if it continued 75 He withdrew from the First Test at the SCG amid rumours that he had suffered a nervous breakdown Despite his absence England employed what were already becoming known as the Bodyline tactics against the Australian batsmen and won an ill tempered match 27 nbsp The famous duck Bradman bowled by Bowes at the MCG in front of a world record crowd assembled to see Bradman defeat BodylineThe public clamoured for the return of Bradman to defeat Bodyline he was the batsman who could conquer this cankerous bowling Bradmania amounting almost to religious fervour demanded his return 76 Recovered from his indisposition Bradman returned to the side in Kippax s position A world record crowd of 63 993 at the MCG saw Bradman come to the crease on the first day of the Second Test with the score at 2 67 A standing ovation ensued that delayed play for several minutes 77 Bradman anticipated receiving a bouncer as his first ball and as the bowler delivered he moved across his stumps to play the hook shot The ball failed to rise and Bradman dragged it onto his stumps the first ball duck was his first in a Test The crowd fell into stunned silence as he walked off However Australia took a first innings lead in the match and another record crowd on 2 January 1933 watched Bradman hit a counter attacking second innings century His unbeaten 103 from 146 balls in a team total of 191 helped set England a target of 251 to win Bill O Reilly and Bert Ironmonger bowled Australia to a series levelling victory amid hopes that Bodyline was beaten 78 The Third Test at the Adelaide Oval proved pivotal There were angry crowd scenes after the Australian captain Bill Woodfull and wicket keeper Bert Oldfield were hit by bouncers An apologetic Warner entered the Australian dressing room and was rebuked by Woodfull Woodfull s remarks that there are two teams out there and only one of them is playing cricket were leaked to the press and Warner and others attributed this to Australian opening batsman Jack Fingleton however for many years even after Fingleton s death a bitter war of accusation passed between Fingleton and Bradman as to who was the real source of the leak In a cable to the MCC the Australian Board of Control repeated the allegation of poor sportsmanship directed at Warner by Woodfull 79 With the support of the MCC England continued with Bodyline despite Australian protests The tourists won the last three Tests convincingly and regained the Ashes Bradman caused controversy with his own tactics Always seeking to score and with the leg side packed with fielders he often backed away and hit the ball into the vacant half of the outfield with unorthodox shots reminiscent of tennis or golf 80 This brought him 396 runs at 56 57 for the series and plaudits for attempting to find a solution to Bodyline although his series average was just 57 of his career mean Fingleton was in no doubt that Bradman s game altered irrevocably as a consequence of Bodyline writing 81 Bodyline was specially prepared nurtured for and expended on him and in consequence his technique underwent a change quicker than might have been the case with the passage of time Bodyline plucked something vibrant from his art The constant glare of celebrity and the tribulations of the season forced Bradman to reappraise his life outside the game and to seek a career away from his cricketing fame 82 Harry Hodgetts a South Australian delegate to the Board of Control offered Bradman work as a stockbroker if he would relocate to Adelaide and captain the South Australia team SA Unknown to the public the SA Cricket Association SACA instigated Hodgetts approach and subsidised Bradman s wage 83 Although his wife was hesitant about moving Bradman eventually agreed to the deal in February 1934 84 Declining health and a brush with death In his farewell season for NSW Bradman averaged 132 44 his best yet 39 He was appointed vice captain for the 1934 tour of England However he was unwell for much of the English summer and reports in newspapers hinted that he was suffering from heart trouble 85 Although he again started with a double century at Worcester his famed concentration soon deserted him Wisden wrote 86 there were many occasions on which he was out to wild strokes Indeed at one period he created the impression that to some extent he had lost control of himself and went in to bat with an almost complete disregard for anything in the shape of a defensive stroke nbsp Cigarette card distributed during the 1934 Ashes seriesAt one stage Bradman went thirteen first class innings without a century the longest such spell of his career 87 prompting suggestions that Bodyline had eroded his confidence and altered his technique 86 After three Tests the series was locked up 1 1 and Bradman had scored 133 runs in five innings The Australians travelled to Sheffield and played a warm up game before the Fourth Test Bradman started slowly and then the old Bradman was back with us in the twinkling of an eye almost 88 He went on to make 140 with the last 90 runs coming in just 45 minutes On the opening day of the Fourth Test at Headingley Leeds England were out for 200 but Australia slumped to 3 39 losing the third wicket from the last ball of the day 89 Listed to bat at number five Bradman would start his innings the next day That evening Bradman declined an invitation to dinner from Neville Cardus telling the journalist that he wanted an early night because the team needed him to make a double century the next day Cardus pointed out that his previous innings on the ground was 334 and the law of averages was against another such score Bradman told Cardus I don t believe in the law of averages 90 In the event Bradman batted all of the second day and into the third putting on a then world record partnership of 388 with Bill Ponsford 91 92 When he was finally out for 304 473 balls 43 fours and two sixes Australia had a lead of 350 runs but rain prevented them from forcing a victory The effort of the lengthy innings stretched Bradman s reserves of energy and he did not play again until the Fifth Test at The Oval the match that would decide the Ashes 93 In the first innings at The Oval Bradman and Ponsford recorded an even more massive partnership this time 451 runs It had taken them less than a month to break the record they had set at Headingley this new world record was to last 57 years 91 Bradman s share of the stand was 244 from 271 balls and the Australian total of 701 set up victory by 562 runs For the fourth time in five series the Ashes changed hands 94 England would not recover them again until after Bradman s retirement Seemingly restored to full health Bradman blazed two centuries in the last two games of the tour However when he returned to London to prepare for the trip home he experienced severe abdominal pain It took a doctor more than 24 hours to diagnose acute appendicitis and a surgeon operated immediately Bradman lost a lot of blood during the four hour procedure and peritonitis set in Penicillin and sulphonamides were still experimental treatments at this time peritonitis was usually a fatal condition 95 On 25 September the hospital issued a statement that Bradman was struggling for his life and that blood donors were needed urgently 96 The effect of the announcement was little short of spectacular 95 The hospital could not deal with the number of donors and closed its switchboard in the face of the avalanche of telephone calls generated by the news Journalists were asked by their editors to prepare obituaries O Reilly took a call from King George V s secretary asking that the King be kept informed of the situation 96 Bradman s wife started the month long journey to London as soon as she received the news En route she heard a rumour that her husband had died 95 A telephone call clarified the situation and by the time she reached London Bradman had begun a slow recovery He followed medical advice to convalesce taking several months to return to Australia and missing the 1934 35 Australian season 27 Internal politics and the Test captaincy nbsp Bradman walking out to bat in the Third Test against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1937 His 270 runs won the match for Australia and has been rated the greatest innings of all time There was off field intrigue in Australian cricket during the antipodean winter of 1935 Australia scheduled to make a tour of South Africa at the end of the year needed to replace the retired Woodfull as captain The Board of Control wanted Bradman to lead the team yet on 8 August the board announced his withdrawal from the team due to a lack of fitness Surprisingly in the light of this announcement Bradman led the South Australian team in a full programme of matches that season 97 The captaincy was given to Vic Richardson Bradman s predecessor as South Australian captain 98 Cricket author Chris Harte s analysis of the situation is that a prior unspecified commercial agreement forced Bradman to remain in Australia 99 Harte attributed an ulterior motive to his relocation the off field behaviour of Richardson and other South Australian players had displeased the SACA which was looking for new leadership To help improve discipline Bradman became a committeeman of the SACA and a selector of the South Australian and Australian teams 100 He took his adopted state to its first Sheffield Shield title for ten years Bradman weighing in with personal contributions of 233 against Queensland and 357 against Victoria He finished the season with 369 in 233 minutes a South Australian record made against Tasmania The bowler who dismissed him Reginald Townley would later become leader of the Tasmanian Liberal Party 97 Australia defeated South Africa 4 0 and senior players such as O Reilly were pointed in their comments about the enjoyment of playing under Richardson s captaincy 101 A group of players who were openly hostile toward Bradman formed during the tour For some the prospect of playing under Bradman was daunting as was the knowledge that he would additionally be sitting in judgement of their abilities in his role as a selector 102 To start the new season the Test side played a Rest of Australia team captained by Bradman at Sydney in early October 1936 The Test XI suffered a big defeat due to Bradman s 212 and a haul of 12 wickets taken by leg spinner Frank Ward 103 Bradman let the members of the Test team know that despite their recent success the team still required improvement 102 Shortly afterwards his first child was born on 28 October but died the next day He took time out of cricket for two weeks and on his return made 192 in three hours against Victoria in the last match before the beginning of the Ashes series The Test selectors made five changes to the team who had played in the previous Test match Significantly Australia s most successful bowler Clarrie Grimmett was replaced by Ward one of four players making their debut Bradman s role in Grimmett s omission from the team was controversial and it became a theme that dogged Bradman as Grimmett continued to be prolific in domestic cricket while his successors were ineffective he was regarded as having finished the veteran bowler s Test career in a political purge 104 nbsp Bradman and England captain Gubby Allen toss at the start of the 1936 37 Ashes series The five Tests drew more than 950 000 spectators including a world record 350 534 to the Third Test at Melbourne Australia fell to successive defeats in the opening two Tests Bradman making two ducks in his four innings 105 106 and it seemed that the captaincy was affecting his form 107 The selectors made another four changes to the team for the Third Test at Melbourne Bradman won the toss on New Year s Day 1937 but again failed with the bat scoring just 13 The Australians could not take advantage of a pitch that favoured batting and finished the day at 6 181 On the second day rain dramatically altered the course of the game With the sun drying the pitch in those days covers could not be used during matches Bradman declared to get England in to bat while the pitch was sticky England also declared to get Australia back in conceding a lead of 124 Bradman countered by reversing his batting order to protect his run makers while conditions improved The ploy worked and Bradman went in at number seven In an innings spread over three days he battled influenza while scoring 270 off 375 balls sharing a record partnership of 346 with Jack Fingleton 108 and Australia went on to victory In 2001 Wisden rated this performance as the best Test match innings of all time 109 The next Test at the Adelaide Oval was fairly even until Bradman played another patient second innings making 212 from 395 balls Australia levelled the series when the erratic 110 left arm spinner Chuck Fleetwood Smith bowled Australia to victory In the series deciding Fifth Test Bradman returned to a more aggressive style in top scoring with 169 off 191 balls in Australia s 604 and Australia won by an innings 111 Australia s achievement of winning a Test series after outright losses in the first two matches has never been repeated in Test cricket 112 End of an era During the 1938 tour of England Bradman played the most consistent cricket of his career 113 He needed to score heavily as England had a strengthened batting line up while the Australian bowling was over reliant on O Reilly 113 Grimmett was overlooked but Jack Fingleton made the team so the clique of anti Bradman players remained 12 Playing 26 innings on tour Bradman recorded 13 centuries a new Australian record and again made 1 000 first class runs before the end of May becoming the only player to do so twice 114 In scoring 2 429 runs Bradman achieved the highest average ever recorded in an English season 115 66 113 nbsp Bradman left with his vice captain Stan McCabe walks out to bat at Perth during a preliminary match to the 1938 tour of England Bradman scored 102 In the First Test England amassed a big first innings score and looked likely to win but Stan McCabe made 232 for Australia a performance Bradman rated as the best he had ever seen With Australia forced to follow on Bradman fought hard to ensure McCabe s effort was not in vain and he secured the draw with 144 not out 115 It was the slowest Test hundred of his career and he played a similar innings of 102 not out in the next Test as Australia struggled to another draw 116 Rain completely washed out the Third Test at Old Trafford 117 Australia s opportunity came at Headingley a Test described by Bradman as the best he ever played in 118 England batted first and made 223 During the Australian innings Bradman backed himself by opting to bat on in poor light conditions reasoning that Australia could score more runs in bad light on a good pitch than on a rain affected pitch in good light when he had the option to go off 119 He scored 103 out of a total of 242 and the gamble paid off as it meant there was sufficient time to push for victory when an England collapse left them a target of only 107 to win Australia slumped to 4 61 with Bradman out for 16 An approaching storm threatened to wash the game out but the poor weather held off and Australia managed to secure the win a victory that retained the Ashes 119 For the only time in his life the tension of the occasion got to Bradman and he could not watch the closing stages of play a reflection of the pressure that he felt all tour he described the captaincy as exhausting and said he found it difficult to keep going 118 The euphoria of securing the Ashes preceded Australia s heaviest defeat At The Oval England amassed a world record of 7 903 and their opening batsman Len Hutton scored an individual world record by making 364 120 121 In an attempt to relieve the burden on his bowlers Bradman took a rare turn at bowling During his third over he fractured his ankle and teammates carried him from the ground 120 With Bradman injured and Fingleton unable to bat because of a leg muscle strain 120 122 Australia were thrashed by an innings and 579 runs which remains the largest margin in Test cricket history 123 Unfit to complete the tour Bradman left the team in the hands of vice captain Stan McCabe At this point Bradman felt that the burden of captaincy would prevent him from touring England again although he did not make his doubts public 118 Despite the pressure of captaincy Bradman s batting form remained supreme An experienced mature player now commonly called The Don had replaced the blitzing style of his early days as the Boy from Bowral 124 In 1938 39 he led South Australia to the Sheffield Shield and made a century in six consecutive innings to equal CB Fry s world record 125 Bradman totalled 21 first class centuries in 34 innings from the beginning of the 1938 tour of England including preliminary games in Australia until early 1939 The next season Bradman made an abortive bid to join the Victoria state side The Melbourne Cricket Club advertised the position of club secretary and he was led to believe that if he applied he would get the job 126 The position which had been held by Hugh Trumble until his death in August 1938 was one of the most prestigious jobs in Australian cricket The annual salary of 1 000 would make Bradman financially secure while allowing him to retain a connection with the game 127 On 18 January 1939 the club s committee on the casting vote of the chairman chose former Test batsman Vernon Ransford over Bradman 127 128 In August 1939 Bradman won the South Australian squash championships beating Australian Davis Cup tennis player Don Turnbull in the final Turnbull won the first two games in the best of five game contest and led 8 3 in the third game with five match points but Bradman won the game and the fourth Turnbull led 8 5 in the fifth game but Bradman went on to win 129 The 1939 40 season was Bradman s most productive ever for SA 1 448 runs at an average of 144 8 39 He made three double centuries including 251 not out against NSW the innings that he rated the best he ever played in the Sheffield Shield as he tamed Bill O Reilly at the height of his form 130 However it was the end of an era The outbreak of World War II led to the indefinite postponement of all cricket tours and the suspension of the Sheffield Shield competition 131 Troubled war years Donald BradmanAllegianceAustraliaService wbr branchRoyal Australian Air Force 1940 41 Australian Army 1941 Years of service1940 1941RankLieutenantService numberS1388UnitArmy School of Physical TrainingBattles warsSecond World War nbsp Bradman s high backlift and lengthy forward stride were characteristic Bradman joined the Royal Australian Air Force RAAF on 28 June 1940 and was passed fit for air crew duty 132 The RAAF had more recruits than it could equip and train and Bradman spent four months in Adelaide before the Governor General of Australia Lord Gowrie persuaded Bradman to transfer to the army a move that was criticised as a safer option for him 12 Given the rank of lieutenant he was posted to the Army School of Physical Training at Frankston Victoria to act as a divisional supervisor of physical training The exertion of the job aggravated his chronic muscular problems diagnosed as fibrositis Surprisingly in light of his batting prowess a routine army test revealed that Bradman had poor eyesight 133 Invalided out of service in June 1941 Bradman spent months recuperating unable even to shave himself or comb his hair due to the extent of the muscular pain he suffered He resumed stockbroking during 1942 In his biography of Bradman Charles Williams expounded the theory that the physical problems were psychosomatic induced by stress and possibly depression Bradman read the book s manuscript and did not disagree 134 Had any cricket been played at this time he would not have been available Although he found some relief in 1945 when referred to the Melbourne masseur Ern Saunders Bradman permanently lost the feeling in the thumb and index finger of his dominant right hand 135 In June 1945 Bradman faced a financial crisis when the firm of Harry Hodgetts collapsed due to fraud and embezzlement 136 Bradman moved quickly to set up his own business utilising Hodgetts client list and his old office in Grenfell Street Adelaide The fallout led to a prison term for Hodgetts and left a stigma attached to Bradman s name in the city s business community for many years 137 However the SA Cricket Association had no hesitation in appointing Bradman as their delegate to the Board of Control in place of Hodgetts Now working alongside some of the men he had battled in the 1930s Bradman quickly became a leading light in the administration of the game With the resumption of international cricket he was once more appointed a Test selector and played a major role in planning for post war cricket 138 The ghost of a once great cricketer nbsp Bradman and Barnes leave the field for an adjournment as both head towards 234 nbsp Bradman during an interstate series at Adelaide Oval 31 October 1946 In 1945 46 Bradman suffered regular bouts of fibrositis while coming to terms with increased administrative duties and the establishment of his business 139 He played for South Australia in two matches to help with the re establishment of first class cricket and later described his batting as painstaking 140 Batting against the Australian Services cricket team Bradman scored 112 in less than two hours yet Dick Whitington playing for the Services wrote I have seen today the ghost of a once great cricketer 141 142 Bradman declined a tour of New Zealand and spent the winter of 1946 wondering whether he had played his last match With the English team due to arrive for the 1946 47 Ashes series the media and the public were anxious to know if Bradman would lead Australia 143 His doctor recommended against a return to the game 144 Encouraged by his wife Bradman agreed to play in lead up fixtures to the Test series 145 After hitting two centuries Bradman made himself available for the First Test at The Gabba Controversy emerged on the first day of the First Test at Brisbane After compiling an uneasy 28 runs Bradman hit a ball to the gully fieldsman Jack Ikin An appeal for a catch was denied in the umpire s contentious ruling that it was a bump ball 146 At the end of the over England captain Wally Hammond spoke with Bradman and criticised him for not walking from then on the series was a cricketing war just when most people desired peace Whitington wrote 147 Bradman regained his finest pre war form in making 187 followed by 234 during the Second Test at Sydney Sid Barnes also scored 234 during the innings many in a still standing record 405 run 5th wicket partnership with Bradman Barnes later recalled that he purposely got out on 234 because it wouldn t be right for someone to make more runs than Bradman Australia won both matches by an innings Jack Fingleton speculated that had the decision at Brisbane gone against him Bradman would have retired such were his fitness problems 148 In the remainder of the series Bradman made three half centuries in six innings but he was unable to make another century nevertheless his team won handsomely scoring 3 0 He was the leading batsman on either side with an average of 97 14 Nearly 850 000 spectators watched the Tests which helped lift public spirits after the war 149 Century of centuries and The Invincibles Main article Don Bradman with the Australian cricket team in England in 1948 See also Australian cricket team in England in 1948 and 1948 Ashes series India made its first tour of Australia in the 1947 48 season On 15 November Bradman made 172 against them for an Australian XI at Sydney his 100th first class century 150 The first non Englishman to achieve the milestone Bradman remains the only Australian to have done so 151 In five Tests he scored 715 runs at 178 75 average His last double century 201 came at Adelaide and he scored a century in each innings of the Melbourne Test 152 On the eve of the Fifth Test he announced that the match would be his last in Australia although he would tour England as a farewell 153 Australia had assembled one of the great teams of cricket history 154 Bradman made it known that he wanted to go through the tour unbeaten 64 a feat never before accomplished 155 English spectators were drawn to the matches knowing that it would be their last opportunity to see Bradman in action RC Robertson Glasgow observed of Bradman that 39 Next to Mr Winston Churchill he was the most celebrated man in England during the summer of 1948 His appearances throughout the country were like one continuous farewell matinee At last his batting showed human fallibility Often especially at the start of the innings he played where the ball wasn t and spectators rubbed their eyes Despite his waning powers Bradman compiled 11 centuries on the tour amassing 2 428 runs average 89 92 39 His highest score of the tour 187 came against Essex when Australia compiled a world record of 721 runs in a day In the Tests he scored a century at Trent Bridge but the performance most like his pre war exploits came in the Fourth Test at Headingley England declared on the last morning of the game setting Australia a world record 404 runs to win in only 345 minutes on a heavily worn pitch In partnership with Arthur Morris 182 Bradman reeled off 173 not out and the match was won with 15 minutes to spare The journalist Ray Robinson called the victory the finest ever in its conquest of seemingly insuperable odds 156 In the final Test at The Oval Bradman walked out to bat in Australia s first innings He received a standing ovation from the crowd and three cheers from the opposition 157 His Test batting average stood at 101 39 158 Facing the wrist spin of Eric Hollies 159 Bradman pushed forward to the second ball that he faced was deceived by a googly and was bowled between bat and pad for a duck 160 An England batting collapse resulted in an innings defeat denying Bradman the opportunity to bat again and so his career average finished at 99 94 157 161 162 if he had scored just four runs in his last innings it would have been 100 A story developed over the years that claimed Bradman missed the ball because of tears in his eyes 162 a claim Bradman denied for the rest of his life 163 The Australian team won the Ashes 4 0 completed the tour unbeaten and entered history as The Invincibles 164 Just as Bradman s legend grew rather than diminished over the years so too has the reputation of the 1948 team For Bradman it was the most personally fulfilling period of his playing days as the divisiveness of the 1930s had passed He wrote 165 Knowing the personnel I was confident that here at last was the great opportunity which I had longed for A team of cricketers whose respect and loyalty were unquestioned who would regard me in a fatherly sense and listen to my advice follow my guidance and not question my handling of affairs there are no longer any fears that they will query the wisdom of what you do The result is a sense of freedom to give full reign to your own creative ability and personal judgment With Bradman now retired from professional cricket RC Robertson Glasgow wrote of the English reaction a miracle has been removed from among us So must ancient Italy have felt when she heard of the death of Hannibal 39 Statistical summaryTest match performance nbsp This is the complete graphical representation of the test cricket record of Don Bradman Individual innings are represented by the blue and red not out bars the green line is his career batting average 166 Batting 167 Bowling 168 Opposition Matches Runs Average High Score 100 50 Runs Wickets Average Best Inns nbsp England 37 5 028 89 78 334 19 12 51 1 51 00 1 23 nbsp India 5 715 178 75 201 4 1 4 0 nbsp South Africa 5 806 201 50 299 4 0 2 0 nbsp West Indies 5 447 74 50 223 2 0 15 1 15 00 1 8Overall 52 6 996 99 94 334 29 13 72 2 36 00 1 8First class performance nbsp This is the complete graphical representation of the first class cricket record of Don Bradman Individual innings are represented by the blue and red not out bars the black line is his career batting average Innings Not Out Highest Aggregate Average 100s 100s innsAshes Tests 63 7 334 5 028 89 78 19 30 2 All Tests 80 10 334 6 996 99 94 29 36 3 Sheffield Shield 96 15 452 8 926 110 19 36 37 5 All First Class 338 43 452 28 067 95 14 117 34 6 Grade 93 17 303 6 598 86 80 28 30 1 All Second Class 331 64 320 22 664 84 80 94 28 4 Grand Total 669 107 452 50 731 90 27 211 31 5 Statistics from Bradman Museum 169 Test records See also List of international cricket centuries by Don Bradman Bradman still holds the following significant records for Test match cricket Batting average Highest career batting average minimum 20 innings 99 94 170 Highest series batting average minimum 4 Test series 201 50 1931 32 also second highest 178 75 1947 48 171 Conversion rate Highest percentage of centuries per innings played 36 25 29 centuries from 80 innings 172 Highest percentage of double centuries per innings played 15 12 double centuries from 80 innings 173 Highest 50 100 conversion rate minimum 2000 runs 69 05 29 centuries converted from 42 innings of 50 runs 174 Highest 100 200 conversion rate minimum 2000 runs 41 38 12 double centuries converted from 29 innings of 100 runs 173 Multiples of 100 runs Most double centuries 12 173 Most double centuries in a series 3 1930 also 2 1931 32 1934 1936 37 175 176 Most triple centuries 2 equal with Chris Gayle Brian Lara and Virender Sehwag 177 Note Bradman was stranded on 299 in the 4th Test against South Africa in 1932 178 179 Scoring rate Most centuries accumulated within single sessions of play 6 1 pre lunch 2 lunch tea 3 tea stumps 180 Most runs in one day s play 309 1930 181 Fastest to multiples of 1000 runs Fewest matches required to reach 1000 7 matches 182 2000 15 matches 183 3000 23 matches 184 4000 31 matches 185 5000 36 matches 186 and 6000 45 matches 187 Test runs Fewest innings required to reach 2000 22 innings 183 3000 33 innings 184 4000 48 innings 185 5000 56 innings 186 and 6000 68 innings 187 Test runs Other Highest peak Test batting rating 961 188 Highest percentage of team runs over career 24 28 189 Highest 5th wicket partnership 405 with Sid Barnes 1946 47 190 Highest score by a number 7 batsman 270 1936 37 191 Most runs against one opponent 5 028 England 192 Most hundreds against one opponent 19 England 193 Most runs in one series 974 1930 194 Most consecutive matches in which he made a century 6 the last three Tests in 1936 37 and the first three Tests in 1938 195 Cricket context Completed Test career batting averages Don Bradman AUS 99 94Adam Voges AUS 61 87Graeme Pollock RSA 60 97George Headley WI 60 83Herbert Sutcliffe ENG 60 73Eddie Paynter ENG 59 23Ken Barrington ENG 58 67Everton Weekes WI 58 61Wally Hammond ENG 58 45Garfield Sobers WI 57 78Source CricinfoQualification 20 completed innings career completed Bradman s Test batting average of 99 94 has become one of cricket s most famous iconic statistics 47 No other player who has played more than 20 Test match innings has finished their career with a Test average of more than 62 170 Bradman scored centuries at a rate better than one every three innings in 80 Test innings Bradman scored 29 centuries 196 Only 11 players have since surpassed his total all at a much slower rate the next fastest player to reach 29 centuries Sachin Tendulkar required nearly twice as long 148 innings to do so 196 In addition Bradman s total of 12 Test double hundreds constituting 15 of his innings remains the most achieved by any Test batsman and was accumulated faster than any other player s total 173 For comparison the next highest totals of Test double hundreds are Kumar Sangakkara s 11 in 223 innings 4 9 Brian Lara s 9 in 232 innings 3 9 and Wally Hammond s 7 in 140 innings 5 the next highest rate of scoring Test double centuries was achieved by Vinod Kambli whose 21 innings included 2 double centuries 9 5 173 World sport context Wisden hailed Bradman as the greatest phenomenon in the history of cricket indeed in the history of all ball games 3 Statistician Charles Davis analysed the statistics for several prominent sportsmen by comparing the number of standard deviations that they stand above the mean for their sport 197 The top performers in his selected sports are 198 Athlete Sport Statistic StandarddeviationsBradman Cricket Batting average 4 4Pele Association football Goals per game 3 7Ty Cobb Baseball Batting average 3 6Jack Nicklaus Golf Major titles 3 5Michael Jordan Basketball Points per game 3 4The statistics show that no other athlete dominates an international sport to the extent that Bradman does cricket 7 In order to post a similarly dominant career statistic as Bradman a baseball batter would need a career batting average of 392 while a basketball player would need to score an average of 43 0 points per game over their career 198 The respective records are 366 and 30 1 198 When Bradman died Time allocated a space in its Milestones column for an obituary 199 Australian icon considered by many to be the pre eminent sportsman of all time One of Australia s most beloved heroes he was revered abroad as well When Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years in prison his first question to an Australian visitor was Is Sir Donald Bradman still alive Playing styleMain article Don Bradman s batting technique nbsp Bradman hooks English left arm fast bowler Bill Voce during the 1936 37 series The position of Bradman s left foot in relation to the stumps is an example of how he used the crease when batting Bradman s early development was shaped by the high bounce of the ball on matting over concrete pitches He favoured horizontal bat shots such as the hook pull and cut to deal with the bounce and devised a unique grip on the bat handle that would accommodate these strokes without compromising his ability to defend Employing a side on stance at the wicket Bradman kept perfectly still as the bowler ran in 200 His backswing had a crooked look that troubled his early critics but he resisted entreaties to change 201 His backswing kept his hands in close to the body leaving him perfectly balanced and able to change his stroke mid swing if need be 202 Another telling factor was the decisiveness of Bradman s footwork He used the crease by either coming metres down the pitch to drive or playing so far back that his feet ended up level with the stumps when playing the cut hook or pull 203 Bradman s game evolved with experience He temporarily adapted his technique during the Bodyline series deliberately moving around the crease in an attempt to score from the short pitched deliveries 204 At his peak in the mid 1930s he had the ability to switch between a defensive and attacking approach as the occasion demanded After the Second World War he adjusted to bat within the limitations set by his age becoming a steady accumulator of runs 205 However Bradman never truly mastered batting on sticky wickets Wisden commented i f there really is a blemish on his amazing record it is the absence of a significant innings on one of those sticky dogs of old 3 After cricket nbsp Bradman s bats used in his historic performances at the State Library of South AustraliaAfter his return to Australia Bradman played in his own Testimonial match at Melbourne scoring his 117th and last century and receiving 9 342 in proceeds A606 489 in 2021 terms 206 In the 1949 New Year Honours he was appointed Knight Bachelor 207 208 for his services to the game becoming the only Australian cricketer ever to be knighted 209 He commented that he would have preferred to remain just Mister 24 The following year he published a memoir Farewell to Cricket 210 Bradman accepted offers from the Daily Mail to travel with and write about the 1953 and 1956 Australian teams in England The Art of Cricket his final book published in 1958 is an instructional manual 12 Bradman retired from his stockbroking business in June 1954 depending on the comfortable income earned as a board member of 16 publicly listed companies 211 His highest profile affiliation was with Argo Investments Limited where he was chairman for a number of years Charles Williams commented that b usiness was excluded on medical grounds so the only sensible alternative was a career in the administration of the game which he loved and to which he had given most of his active life 212 Bradman was honoured at a number of cricket grounds notably when his portrait was hung in the Long Room at Lord s until Shane Warne s portrait was added in 2005 Bradman was one of just three Australians to be honoured in this way 213 214 215 Bradman inaugurated a Bradman Stand at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January 1974 216 the Adelaide Oval also opened a Bradman Stand in 1990 which housed new media and corporate facilities 217 The Oval s Bradman Stand was demolished in 2013 as the stadium underwent an extensive re development 218 Later in 1974 he attended a Lord s Taverners function in London where he experienced heart problems 219 which forced him to limit his public appearances to select occasions only With his wife Bradman returned to Bowral in 1976 where the new cricket ground was named in his honour 220 He gave the keynote speech at the historic Centenary Test at Melbourne in 1977 221 On 16 June 1979 the Australian government awarded Bradman the nation s second highest civilian honour at that time Companion of the Order of Australia AC in recognition of service to the sport of cricket and cricket administration 222 In 1980 he resigned from the ACB to lead a more secluded life Administrative career See also Controversies involving Don Bradman In addition to acting as one of South Australia s delegates to the Board of Control from 1945 to 1980 Bradman was a committee member of the SACA between 1935 and 1986 It is estimated that he attended 1 713 SACA meetings during this half century of service Aside from two years in the early 1950s he filled a selector s berth for the Test team between 1936 and 1971 223 Cricket saw an increase in defensive play during the 1950s As a selector Bradman favoured attacking positive cricketers who entertained the paying public He formed an alliance with Australian captain Richie Benaud seeking more attractive play 224 with some success 225 He served two high profile periods as chairman of the board of Control in 1960 63 and 1969 72 226 During the first he dealt with the growing prevalence of illegal bowling actions in the game a problem that he adjudged the most complex I have known in cricket because it is not a matter of fact but of opinion 12 The major controversy of his second stint was a proposed tour of Australia by South Africa in 1971 72 On Bradman s recommendation the series was cancelled 227 Cricket journalist Michael Coward said of Bradman as an administrator Bradman was more than a cricket player nonpareil He was an astute and progressive administrator an expansive thinker philosopher and writer on the game Indeed in some respects he was as powerful persuasive and influential a figure off the ground as he was on it 228 In the late 1970s Bradman played an important role during the World Series Cricket schism as a member of a special Australian Cricket Board committee formed to handle the crisis He was criticised for not airing an opinion but he dealt with World Series Cricket far more pragmatically than other administrators 229 Richie Benaud described Bradman as a brilliant administrator and businessman warning that he was not to be underestimated 230 As Australian captain Ian Chappell fought with Bradman over the issue of player remuneration in the early 1970s and has suggested that Bradman was parsimonious 231 I thought to myself Ian did you just ask Bradman to fill your wallet with money Bradman s harangue confirmed my suspicions that the players were going to have a hard time extracting more money from the ACB Cancellation of Apartheid South Africa s Australian Cricket Tour Despite South Africa s Apartheid regime excluding black players from participating in national sports many countries including Australia retained sporting relations with the regime until the mid 1970s In this vein the South African national cricket team was meant to tour Australia over the 1971 72 Australian summer Public polls from the time suggested that despite a group of very active protestors around 75 of Australians wanted the tour to go ahead believing that Australia should not interfere with South Africa s domestic politics 232 Bradman as Chair of the Australian Cricket Board was initially sympathetic to this majority position of allowing the planned tour to proceed He expressed the view that white South African cricketers many of whom had voiced their opposition to Apartheid and had tried harder than our Australian protestors to do something about it should not be punished for the decisions of their national government 233 However seeking to understand the situation better Bradman travelled to South Africa in June 1971 232 234 While there Bradman met with then South African Prime Minister John Vorster 232 Their exchange was documeted as follows Bradman why don t you choose blacks in the team I want to know Vorster blacks understand rugby but they don t understand the intricacies of cricket They can t handle it Bradman have you heard of Garry Sobers Sobers a West Indian cricketer was regarded as perhaps the greatest cricketing all rounder of all time and was reportedly admired by Bradman who had helped get Sobers out to play in South Australia the previous decade 232 When Bradman returned to Australia later in the year and in the absence of any intervention by the Australian Government to prevent the tour he argued to the other members of the Australian Cricket Board that they should cancel the tour 235 232 236 On behalf of the Board Bradman made a one line statement to the press We will not play them South Africa until they choose a team on a non racial basis 232 237 At the time many disapproved of Bradman s decision to cancel to the tour Vorster unsurprisingly decried the decision calling it one by anarchists communists and fellow travellers 238 Even Australian Prime Minister William McMahon expressed regret at the decision saying it had been wanted by a great many Australians 239 Meanwhile some Australian newspapers lamented that a small violent group of trouble makers has won the day and that Bradman had conced ed defeat without a ball being bowled 240 The decision was however praised in other media and was well received by anti apartheid activists in South Africa 241 Those who appreciated Bradman s decision included a then imprisoned Nelson Mandela After Bradman s death Mandela prasied him on public television stating that he was a hero a true hero 242 Although Bradman became unwell and died before the two could meet Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser gifted Mandela a signed bat from the cricketer which read To Nelson Mandela in recognition of a great unfinished innings 243 Later years and deathAfter his wife s death in 1997 Bradman suffered a discernible and not unexpected wilting of spirit 244 The next year on his 90th birthday he hosted a meeting with his two favourite modern players Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar 245 but he was not seen in his familiar place at the Adelaide Oval again 246 In an oft recited anecdote Tendulkar was impressed with Bradman s sharpness and sense of humour at this historic meeting 247 248 I Tendulkar asked him a question What would you have averaged in today s cricket He thought about it and said Maybe 70 The natural reaction was Why only 70 and not 99 He said C mon that s not bad for a 90 year old man Hospitalised with pneumonia in December 2000 he returned home in the New Year and died there on 25 February 2001 aged 92 249 A memorial service to mark Bradman s life was held on 25 March 2001 at St Peter s Anglican Cathedral Adelaide The service was attended by a host of former and current Test cricketers as well as Australia s then prime minister John Howard leader of the opposition Kim Beazley and former prime minister Bob Hawke Eulogies were given by Richie Benaud and Governor General Sir William Deane The service was broadcast live on ABC Television to a viewing audience of 1 45 million 250 A private service for family and friends was earlier held at the Centennial Park Cemetery in the suburb of Pasadena with many people lining both Greenhill and Goodwood Roads to pay their respects as his funeral motorcade passed by Legacy Cricket writer David Frith summed up the paradox of the continuing fascination with Bradman 251 As the years passed with no lessening of his reclusiveness so his public stature continued to grow until the sense of reverence and unquestioning worship left many of his contemporaries scratching their heads in wondering admiration As early as 1939 Bradman had a Royal Navy ship named after him Built as a fishing trawler in 1936 HMS Bradman was taken over by the Admiralty in 1939 252 but was sunk by German aircraft the following year 253 In the 1963 edition of Wisden Cricketers Almanack Bradman was selected by Neville Cardus as one of the Six Giants of the Wisden Century This was a special commemorative selection requested by Wisden for its 100th edition 254 The other five players chosen were Sydney Barnes W G Grace Jack Hobbs Tom Richardson and Victor Trumper On 10 December 1985 Bradman was the first of 120 inaugural inductees into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame 255 He spoke of his philosophy for considering the stature of athletes When considering the stature of an athlete or for that matter any person I set great store in certain qualities which I believe to be essential in addition to skill They are that the person conducts his or her life with dignity with integrity courage and perhaps most of all with modesty These virtues are totally compatible with pride ambition and competitiveness Although modest about his own abilities and generous in his praise of other cricketers Bradman was fully aware of the talents he possessed as a player 256 there is some evidence that he sought to influence his legacy 257 During the 1980s and 1990s Bradman carefully selected the people to whom he gave interviews 257 assisting Michael Page Roland Perry and Charles Williams who all produced biographical works about him Bradman also agreed to an extensive interview with Norman May for ABC radio broadcast as Bradman The Don Declares in eight 55 minute episodes during 1988 258 nbsp The Bradman Stand named in 1990 at the Adelaide OvalThe most significant of these legacy projects was the Bradman Museum opened in 1989 at the Bradman Oval in Bowral 259 This organisation was reformed in 1993 as a non profit charitable Trust called the Bradman Foundation 260 In 2010 it was expanded and rebranded as the International Cricket Hall of Fame When the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame was created in Melbourne in 1996 Bradman was made one of its 10 inaugural members 261 In 2000 Bradman was selected by cricket experts as one of five Wisden Cricketers of the Century Each of the 100 members of the panel were able to select five cricketers all 100 voted for Bradman 262 The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame inducted him on 19 November 2009 263 Bradman s life and achievements were recognised in Australia with two notable issues Three years before he died he became the first living Australian to be featured on an Australian postage stamp 264 After his death the Australian Government produced a 20 cent coin to commemorate his life 265 On 27 August 2018 to celebrate 110 years since his birth Bradman was commemorated with a Google Doodle 266 To mark 150 years of the Cricketers Almanack Wisden named him as captain of an all time Test World XI 267 In 1999 Bradman was named in the six man shortlist for BBC Sports Personality of the Century 268 Asteroid 2472 Bradman discovered by Lubos Kohoutek is named in his honour 269 The State Library of South Australia in Adelaide approached Bradman in the late 1960s about his transferring his personal collection of memorabilia to them 270 Bradman then collaborated in the creation of scrapbooks about his career which he donated to the library along with bats balls trophies and tape recordings detailing his career The original scrapbooks are held by the National Library of Australia in Canberra The Bradman Collection was formally opened in a dedicated display space at the State Library of South Australia by Prime Minister John Howard in 1998 270 Family life nbsp Bradman with wife left in 1938 near Maidenhead EnglandBradman first met Jessie Martha Menzies in 1920 when she boarded with the Bradman family to be closer to school in Bowral The couple married at St Paul s Anglican Church at Burwood Sydney on 30 April 1932 27 The two were devoted to each other 271 During their 65 year marriage Jessie was shrewd reliable selfless and above all uncomplicated she was the perfect foil to his concentrated and occasionally mercurial character 272 Bradman paid tribute to his wife numerous times once saying succinctly I would never have achieved what I achieved without Jessie 273 The Bradmans lived in the same modest suburban house in Holden Street Kensington Park Adelaide for all but the first three years of their married life 274 They experienced personal tragedy in raising their children their first born son died as an infant in 1936 275 their second son John born in 1939 contracted polio 276 and their daughter Shirley born in 1941 had cerebral palsy from birth 277 His family name proved a burden for John Bradman he legally changed his last name to Bradsen in 1972 Although claims were made that he became estranged from his father it was more a matter of the pair inhabit ing different worlds and the two remained in contact through the years 278 After the cricketer s death a collection of personal letters written by Bradman to his close friend Rohan Rivett between 1953 and 1977 was released and gave researchers new insights into Bradman s family life including the strain between father and son 279 However John Bradman later rejected the view that his relationship with his father was strained 280 Bradman s reclusiveness in later life is partly attributable to the ongoing health problems of his wife particularly following the open heart surgery Jessie underwent in her 60s 219 Lady Bradman died in 1997 aged 88 from cancer 281 This had a dispiriting effect on Bradman 282 but the relationship with his son improved to the extent that John resolved to change his name back to Bradman 283 284 Since his father s death John Bradman has become the spokesperson for the family and has been involved in defending the Bradman legacy in a number of disputes 285 286 The relationship between Bradman and his wider family is less clear although nine months after Bradman s death his nephew Paul Bradman criticised him as a snob and a loner who forgot his connections in Bowral and who failed to attend the funerals of Paul s mother and father 287 In addition to Bradman s two children he was survived by three grandchildren Greta Bradman Tom Bradman and Nick Bradman 288 Greta Bradman is an operatic soprano psychologist and radio broadcaster 284 She has released multiple albums and performed at numerous national events in Australia including the State Memorial Service of Shane Warne 289 Tom Bradman worked at the Australian Department of Agriculture before taking up farming appearing on the Australian TV show Landline where he discussed his approach to regenerative agriculture 290 In 2017 Nick Bradman appeared on the front cover of the Australian newspaper The Advertiser after attaining a university entrance score of 99 95 eclipsing his grandfather s batting average of 99 94 291 He subsequently received the University Medal in law from the Australian National University 292 293 In popular cultureMain article Don Bradman in popular culture nbsp Bradman statue outside the Adelaide OvalBradman s name has become an archetypal name for outstanding excellence both within cricket and in the wider world The term Bradmanesque has been coined and is used both within and outside cricketing circles 294 295 296 Steve Waugh described Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan as the Don Bradman of bowling 297 Bradman has been the subject of the second most biographies of any Australian behind only the bushranger Ned Kelly 298 Bradman himself wrote four books Don Bradman s Book The Story of My Cricketing Life with Hints on Batting Bowling and Fielding 1930 My Cricketing Life 1938 Farewell to Cricket 1950 and The Art of Cricket 1958 24 The story of the Bodyline series was retold in a 1984 television mini series with Gary Sweet portraying Bradman 299 Bradman has been immortalised in various popular songs of very different styles and eras Here are some of the more well known songs about him Our Don Bradman a jaunty ditty written by Jack O Hagan and performed by Art Leonard was recorded during 1930 Leaps and Bounds Bradman written and performed by Paul Kelly appeared on the CD release of Kelly s 1987 album Under the Sun 300 The Tiger And The Don written and performed by Ted Egan released on the 1989 album This Land Australia and the 2003 album The Land Downunder 301 Sir Don a 1996 tribute written by John Williamson who performed it at Bradman s Memorial Service He was featured in the infamous 2007 Eulogy Song written by Chris Taylor of The Chaser in which his bad temper and overall crankiness was outlined 302 Greg Champion wrote and recorded the comedic song I Was A Mate of Don Bradman for his 2009 album Strayana 303 Bradman recorded several songs accompanying himself and others on piano in the early 1930s including Every Day Is A Rainbow Day For Me 304 with Jack Lumsdaine 305 In 2000 the Australian Government made it illegal for the names of corporations to suggest a link to Sir Donald Bradman if such a link does not in fact exist 306 Other entities with similar protection include the Australian and foreign governments Saint Mary MacKillop the Royal Family and the Returned and Services League of Australia 307 In 2014 the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra premiered a multimedia musical portrait called Our Don that had been nearly three years in the making Greta Bradman performed during the event 308 BibliographyBradman Don 1935 How to Play Cricket Associated Newspapers Ltd London See also nbsp Cricket portalList 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November 2011 Retrieved 19 May 2008 Williams 1996 p 131 Ponsford Bradman and the spin triplets Cricinfo 6 July 2005 Archived from the original on 12 October 2007 Retrieved 23 August 2008 Rosenwater 1978 p 229 a b Test matches Highest partnerships for any wicket Cricinfo Archived from the original on 8 February 2009 Retrieved 13 May 2008 The previous mark had been 323 set in 1912 4th Test England v Australia match report Wisden 1935 Archived from the original on 7 July 2012 Retrieved 21 August 2007 5th Test England v Australia match report Wisden 1935 Archived from the original on 10 July 2012 Retrieved 21 August 2007 a b c Williams 1996 pp 136 37 a b O Reilly 1985 p 139 a b Bradman 1950 pp 94 97 Vic Richardson player profile Cricinfo Archived from the original on 24 April 2008 Retrieved 17 June 2008 Richardson s record in fourteen Tests was 622 runs at 24 88 Against South Africa he made 84 runs in five innings Harte 1993 p 360 Harte 1993 p 352 O Reilly 1985 pp 144 145 a b Williams 1996 p 148 Harte 1993 p 369 Clarrie Grimmett player profile Cricinfo Archived from the original on 11 October 2008 Retrieved 23 August 2008 England tour of Australia 1st Test Australia v England at Brisbane Dec 4 9 1936 ESPNcricinfo Archived from the original on 26 December 2018 Retrieved 29 May 2017 2nd Test Scorecard 18 22 December 1936 Cricinfo Archived from the original on 18 February 2006 Retrieved 14 May 2008 Bull Andy 9 May 2013 20 great Ashes moments No4 Don Bradman records Wisden s best innings 1937 The Guardian London Archived from the original on 8 December 2017 Retrieved 29 May 2017 3rd Test Australia v England match report Wisden 1938 Archived from the original on 31 October 2023 Retrieved 22 August 2007 Laxman Kumble in Wisden s top ten list Cricinfo 26 July 2001 Archived from the original on 16 July 2012 Retrieved 23 August 2008 The Ashes 4th Test Australia v England Wisden 1937 Archived from the original on 11 July 2012 Retrieved 19 June 2008 5th Test Australia v England match report Wisden 1938 Archived from the original on 13 October 2012 Retrieved 22 August 2007 Test matches Winning a series after coming from behind Cricinfo Archived from the original on 1 April 2008 Retrieved 26 April 2008 a b c Wilfrid Brookes 1939 The Australian team in England 1938 Wisden Archived from the original on 2 January 2013 Retrieved 15 May 2008 Kidd Patrick 9 May 2006 The hunt for 1 000 The Times Archived from the original on 23 July 2008 Retrieved 23 August 2008 The Ashes 1938 1st Test Cricinfo Archived from the original on 24 June 2006 Retrieved 20 June 2008 2nd Test 24 28 June 1938 Cricinfo Archived from the original on 18 February 2006 Retrieved 14 May 2008 Third Test match England v Australia 1938 Wisden 1938 Archived from the original on 2 January 2013 Retrieved 14 May 2008 a b c Bradman 1950 pp 115 118 a b 4th Test England v Australia match report Wisden 1939 Archived from the original on 31 October 2023 Retrieved 8 August 2007 a b c 5th Test England v Australia match report Wisden 1939 Retrieved 22 August 2007 Lynch Steven 12 April 2004 The highest score in Test cricket Cricinfo Archived from the original on 11 July 2012 Retrieved 23 August 2008 Bradman 1950 p 108 Largest margin of victory by an innings Cricinfo Archived from the original on 11 July 2012 Retrieved 5 December 2007 Football in the Age of Instability transcript Australian Broadcasting Corporation 4 October 2002 Archived from the original on 5 February 2008 Retrieved 23 August 2008 Hundreds in consecutive innings Cricinfo Archived from the original on 5 October 2008 Retrieved 23 August 2008 Dunstan 1988 p 172 a b Williams 1996 pp 182 183 Nevertheless the Secretaryship of the Melbourne Cricket Club was and indeed still is one of the most attractive jobs in the world of Australian cricket Coleman 1993 pp 425 426 Squash rackets The West Australian Perth 19 August 1939 p 13 Archived from the original on 15 August 2023 Retrieved 15 August 2023 via Trove Bradman 1950 p 120 Harte 1993 pp 382 383 Williams 1996 p 187 Page 1983 pp 266 267 Eason 2004 p 61 Bradman 1950 p 122 Boock Richard 24 November 2001 Cricket The Don accused of underarm tactics in financial scandal The New Zealand Herald Retrieved 23 August 2008 Hutchins Brett Don Bradman Challenging the Myth pp 155 156 The question within Adelaide business circles ever since has been whether Bradman who was second in charge of the firm and Hodgetts friend had prior knowledge of the impending collapse These dubious circumstances led to resentment towards Bradman among the Adelaide Exchange that is said to still linger today Harte 1992 pp 392 393 Page 1983 pp 271 272 Bradman 1950 p 125 Eason 2004 p 337 The Spin The Ashes 2010 it s time Andy Bull the Guardian 23 November 2010 Archived from the original on 25 August 2022 Retrieved 25 August 2022 Williams 1996 pp 205 206 It was all the more obvious that on any analysis the only figure of stature who could lead Australia back into the post War cricket era was the little feller the sick man of Adelaide the wartime invalid now nearing forty It is little wonder that all Australia wanted to know precisely what he was proposing to do History from the maker Cricinfo 29 March 2008 Archived from the original on 2 April 2008 Retrieved 19 May 2008 Bradman 1950 p 126 1st Test Australia v England match report Wisden 1948 Archived from the original on 9 July 2012 Retrieved 8 August 2007 Whitington 1974 p 190 Fingleton 1949 p 22 Bradman 1950 p 139 Australian XI v Indians at Sydney Cricinfo Archived from the original on 31 October 2023 Retrieved 15 May 2008 First class matches Most hundreds in a career Records Cricinfo Archived from the original on 25 January 2010 Retrieved 14 May 2008 Bradman scored 117 centuries At 14 May 2008 the closest Australians to the 100 century mark are Darren Lehmann and Justin Langer with 82 The other non English players to score 100 centuries Viv Richards Zaheer Abbas and Glenn Turner started their first class cricket careers after Bradman had retired from all forms of cricket Bradman and the Indian connection Cricinfo Archived from the original on 12 October 2007 Retrieved 23 August 2008 Biographical essay by Michael Page State Library South Australia Archived from the original on 20 June 2008 Retrieved 19 May 2008 Benaud rates Ponting s team alongside the Invincibles Cricinfo com Archived from the original on 12 October 2007 Retrieved 23 August 2008 Australians in England 1948 ESPNcricinfo 30 May 2008 Archived from the original on 31 December 2010 Retrieved 29 July 2014 Quoted by Page 1983 p 312 a b Fifth Test Match England v Australia 1948 Wisden Cricketers Almanack Archived from the original on 25 August 2017 Retrieved 3 June 2017 Parsons Chris 6 January 2014 On This Day Donald Bradman makes the greatest ever innings Eurosport Archived from the original on 31 October 2023 Retrieved 3 June 2017 Hoult Nick 26 August 2008 Untouchable Bradman hits yet another century The Daily Telegraph London Archived from the original on 11 January 2022 Retrieved 3 June 2017 Baldwin 2005 p 108 Australia tour of England 5th Test England v Australia at The Oval Aug 14 18 1948 ESPNcricinfo Archived from the original on 26 December 2018 Retrieved 15 July 2017 a b Baldwin 2005 p 109 Lynch Steven 17 January 2012 Memorable ducks ESPN Archived from the original on 8 December 2017 Retrieved 15 July 2017 Sporting greats Australia reveres and treasures its sporting heroes Australian Government Culture and Recreation Portal Archived from the original on 8 April 2011 Retrieved 23 August 2008 The 1948 Australian cricket team captained by Don Bradman for example became known as The Invincibles for their unbeaten eight month tour of England This team is one of Australia s most cherished sporting legends Bradman 1950 p 152 Howstat Don Bradman Test Cricket Howstat Computing Services Archived from the original on 8 January 2019 Retrieved 8 January 2019 Statsguru DG Bradman Test matches Batting analysis Cricinfo Archived from the original on 2 January 2013 Retrieved 20 June 2008 Statsguru DG Bradman Test Bowling Bowling analysis Cricinfo Archived from the original on 2 January 2013 Retrieved 20 June 2008 Bradman s Career Statistics Bradman Museum Archived from the original on 1 September 2007 Retrieved 23 August 2008 a b Test matches Highest career batting average Cricinfo Archived from the original on 17 October 2010 Retrieved 19 May 2008 Test matches Batting records Cricinfo Archived from the original on 26 March 2014 Retrieved 17 May 2008 Players Batting 30 Innings with 10 Centuries Howstat Archived from the original on 22 July 2008 Retrieved 29 May 2008 a b c d e Most double hundreds in a career Cricinfo Archived from the original on 18 February 2017 Retrieved 15 January 2012 HowSTAT Test Cricket Highest 50 100 Conversion Rate howstat com Archived from the original on 31 December 2021 Retrieved 31 December 2021 Test matches Most double hundreds in a series Cricinfo Archived from the original on 20 April 2010 Retrieved 15 January 2012 HowSTAT Test Cricket Players Scoring Most Double Centuries in a Series www howstat com Archived from the original on 1 January 2022 Retrieved 1 January 2022 Test matches Batting records 300 runs in an innings Cricinfo Archived from the original on 19 June 2008 Retrieved 17 November 2010 Full Scorecard of South Africa vs Australia 4th Test 1931 32 Score Report ESPNcricinfo com ESPNcricinfo Archived from the original on 28 December 2021 Retrieved 31 December 2021 Not out on 99 199 and 299 cricinfo Archived from the original on 30 March 2017 Retrieved 29 March 2017 Current Test Records still held by D G Bradman Bradman Museum Archived from the original on 1 September 2007 Retrieved 23 August 2008 Records Test matches Most runs in a day Cricinfo Archived from the original on 21 June 2008 Retrieved 17 May 2008 Fastest to 1000 Runs Cricinfo Archived from the original on 3 August 2010 Retrieved 12 July 2013 a b Fastest to 2000 Runs Cricinfo Archived from the original on 12 December 2009 Retrieved 1 January 2010 a b Fastest to 3000 Runs Cricinfo Archived from the original on 12 December 2009 Retrieved 1 January 2010 a b Fastest to 4000 Runs Cricinfo Archived from the original on 15 December 2009 Retrieved 1 January 2010 a b Fastest to 5000 Runs Cricinfo Archived from the original on 16 December 2009 Retrieved 1 January 2010 a b Fastest to 6000 Runs Cricinfo Archived from the original on 10 January 2010 Retrieved 1 January 2010 Reliance ICC Best Ever Test Championship Rating Reliance ICC Rankings Archived from the original on 30 June 2017 Retrieved 8 August 2015 Test Highest Percentage of Team s Runs over Career Archived from the original on 1 December 2017 Retrieved 1 January 2022 Records Test matches Highest partnership for the fifth wicket Cricinfo Archived from the original on 15 December 2009 Retrieved 17 May 2008 Records Test matches Most runs in an innings by batting position Cricinfo Archived from the original on 30 March 2010 Retrieved 15 January 2012 Most runs against West Indies and most wickets against anyone Cricinfo 15 January 2008 Archived from the original on 31 January 2008 Retrieved 17 May 2008 HowSTAT Test Cricket Most Centuries against One Country howstat com Archived from the original on 2 January 2022 Retrieved 2 January 2022 Records Test matches Most runs in a series Cricinfo Archived from the original on 30 March 2010 Retrieved 15 January 2012 Records Test matches Hundreds in consecutive matches Cricinfo Archived from the original on 17 September 2008 Retrieved 17 May 2008 a b Highest frequency of hundreds and fiver fors Cricinfo 30 May 2007 Archived from the original on 12 October 2007 Retrieved 23 August 2008 Buckley Will 16 September 2007 Ali Laver Best No the Williams sisters The Observer London Archived from the original on 5 October 2014 Retrieved 23 August 2008 a b c Shaw John 27 February 2001 Sir Donald Bradman 92 Cricket Legend Dies The New York Times Archived from the original on 16 July 2009 Retrieved 23 August 2008 Adams Kathleen et al 4 March 2001 Milestones Time Archived from the original on 18 December 2010 Retrieved 23 August 2008 Farewell to the Don Time 5 March 2001 Archived from the original on 12 October 2007 Retrieved 23 August 2008 Bradman 1950 p 20 Eason 2004 p 88 Robinson 1981 p 139 Bradman 1950 p 74 Fingleton 1949 pp 209 211 Robinson 1981 p 153 United Kingdom No 38493 The London Gazette Supplement 31 December 1948 p 2 It s an Honour Knight Bachelor Itsanhonour gov au 1 January 1949 Archived from the original on 22 February 2019 Retrieved 21 August 2010 Bradman Foundation Australia Bradman com au Archived from the original on 20 February 2011 Retrieved 21 August 2010 Bradman 1950 Perry 1995 p 569 Williams 1996 p 251 The following sources are respectively a Miller obituary from 2004 which lists Trumper and Bradman and a further piece from 2005 when Warne s portrait was added Mike Atherton the author of the second piece curiously overlooks Trumper s portrait other articles of the same period do similarly Selvey Mike 12 October 2004 Obituary Keith Miller The Guardian London Archived from the original on 28 August 2013 Retrieved 14 January 2008 Atherton Michael 12 June 2005 Warne still the incomparable master of spin bowler s craft The Telegraph London Archived from the original on 23 December 2012 Retrieved 16 May 2008 SCGT History Sydney Cricket amp Sports Ground Trust Archived from the original on 10 December 2007 Retrieved 16 May 2008 Gibbs 2001 p 102 Selvey Mike 29 November 2013 Ashes Adelaide Oval is breaking new ground so hold on to your hard hat The Guardian London Archived from the original on 8 December 2017 Retrieved 29 April 2017 a b Williams 1996 p 271 SACA History South Australian Cricket Association Archived from the original on 17 August 2003 Retrieved 16 May 2008 Bradman Foundation Bradman Museum Archived from the original on 31 August 2007 Retrieved 23 August 2008 It s an Honour AC Itsanhonour gov au 11 June 1979 Archived from the original on 29 January 2019 Retrieved 21 August 2010 Harte 1993 p 658 Cashman 1996 p 58 Background The 1960 61 West Indies tour of Australia Cricinfo Archived from the original on 12 October 2007 Retrieved 23 August 2008 Cricket Australia History Cricket Australia Archived from the original on 14 February 2014 Retrieved 15 February 2014 Page 1983 pp 350 355 Eason 2004 p 15 Harte 1993 p 587 Haigh 1993 p 106 Chappell Ian Mallett Ashley 2007 Chappelli Speaks Out Allen amp Unwin p 150 ISBN 978 1 74175 036 2 a b c d e f The untold story of how Bradman became Mandela s ultimate hero Fox Sports 25 February 2021 Archived from the original on 18 March 2023 Retrieved 28 April 2023 The day apartheid was hit for six The Sydney Morning Herald 23 August 2008 Archived from the original on 18 March 2023 Retrieved 28 April 2023 The day apartheid was hit for six The Sydney Morning Herald 23 August 2008 Archived from the original on 18 March 2023 Retrieved 28 April 2023 The day apartheid was hit for six The Sydney Morning Herald 23 August 2008 Archived from the original on 18 March 2023 Retrieved 28 April 2023 Perry Roland 23 August 2008 The Don s finest declaration The Age Archived from the original on 28 April 2023 Retrieved 28 April 2023 Perry Roland 23 August 2008 The Don s finest declaration The Age Archived from the original on 28 April 2023 Retrieved 28 April 2023 Cablegram from the Australian Embassy Pretoria to the Department of Foreign Affairs Canberra 15 September 1971 NAA916 11 8 Part 1 Cablegram from the Department of Foreign Affairs Canberra to all ports 9 September 1971 NAA916 11 8 Part 1 Australian Cricket Sydney Daily Telegraph October 1971 p 20 Perry Roland 23 August 2008 The Don s finest declaration The Age Archived from the original on 28 April 2023 Retrieved 28 April 2023 Being Bradman Part 1 ABC News 27 July 2015 archived from the original on 27 April 2023 retrieved 28 April 2023 Fraser Malcolm 5 December 2013 Nelson Mandela By far the greatest man The Sydney Morning Herald Archived from the original on 28 April 2023 Retrieved 28 April 2023 Frith 2002 p 429 Bradman never missed a Tendulkar innings in last five years Cricinfo 16 August 2001 Archived from the original on 15 June 2008 Retrieved 23 August 2008 Adelaide Oval The Bradman Trail Archived from the original on 19 July 2008 Retrieved 19 May 2008 That s not bad for a 90 year old man When Don Bradman joked with Sachin Tendulkar about batting average www timesnownews com 27 August 2021 Archived from the original on 24 March 2023 Retrieved 24 March 2023 Bradman and Tendulkar The untold story of two of cricket s giants ABC Australia archived from the original on 24 March 2023 retrieved 24 March 2023 Bradman dies at 92 Archived 7 December 2021 at the Wayback Machine BBC News Retrieved on 14 May 2008 Hutchins 2002 p 4 Frith 2002 p 427 Haigh Gideon 2008 Inside Out Writings on Cricket Culture Melbourne University Publishing pp 122 123 ISBN 978 0 522 85553 1 HMS Bradman FY 189 Uboat net Archived from the original on 19 June 2010 Retrieved 24 August 2011 Six Giants of the Wisden Century Archived 12 July 2012 at archive today Neville Cardus Wisden Cricketers Almanack 1963 Retrieved on 8 November 2008 Sport Australia Hall of Fame History Archived from the original on 18 February 2011 Retrieved 18 February 2011 at sahof org au Williams 1996 p 274 a b Eason 2004 p 16 Eason 2004 p 65 Eason 2004 p 73 Eason 2004 p 67 Australian Cricket Hall of Fame Inductees Melbourne Cricket Ground Archived from the original on 20 May 2013 Retrieved 25 May 2008 2000 Wisden 2000 Retrieved 29 May 2008 Bradman inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame Hindustan Times 20 November 2009 Previous Australia Post Australian Legends Australia Post Archived from the original on 24 March 2012 Retrieved 26 April 2008 Bradman coin among best in the world Royal Australian Mint 22 October 2002 Archived from the original on 31 August 2007 Retrieved 23 August 2008 A doodle for the Don celebrating Bradman s 110th birth anniversary International Cricket Council Archived from the original on 27 August 2018 Retrieved 27 August 2018 WG Grace and Shane Warne in Wisden all time World Test XI BBC 23 October 2013 Archived from the original on 26 July 2019 Retrieved 26 July 2019 Ali crowned Sportsman of Century BBC Sport 13 December 1999 Archived from the original on 30 August 2017 Retrieved 13 October 2018 2472 Bradman Dictionary of Minor Planet Names Springer 2003 p 201 doi 10 1007 978 3 540 29925 7 2473 ISBN 978 3 540 29925 7 a b Don Bradman History of the Collection State Library of South Australia Archived from the original on 12 March 2023 Retrieved 13 March 2023 Hutchins Brett 23 September 2002 Don Bradman Challenging the Myth Cambridge University Press ISBN 9780521823845 Archived from the original on 31 October 2023 Retrieved 10 November 2020 Williams 1996 pp 78 79 Eason 2004 p 55 The Bradman Trail Archived from the original on 6 July 2011 Retrieved 19 May 2008 Question What were the difficulties faced in Sir Donald Bradmans life Bradman Museum Archived from the original on 31 August 2007 Retrieved 23 August 2008 Baum Greg 21 October 2004 Just a few tears as Miller s tale celebrated The Age Melbourne Archived from the original on 15 June 2008 Retrieved 19 May 2008 Death of Sir Donald Bradman Parliament of New South Wales Archived from the original on 7 September 2008 Retrieved 19 May 2008 Eason 2004 p 56 Wallace 2004 Chapter 6 Being Bradman Part 1 ABC News 27 July 2015 archived from the original on 27 April 2023 retrieved 27 April 2023 Bradman dies at 92 BBC Sport 26 February 2001 Archived from the original on 18 February 2004 Retrieved 19 May 2008 Gilmore Heath O Rourke Jim Dasey Daniel 12 November 2000 I m sorry Sir Don it wasn t cricket Bradman letters auction betrayal brings apology to Australian icon Herald Sun Sydney p 3 Duffy Michael 8 January 2000 The Don s son takes back family name A Bradman Once Again The Advertiser Adelaide p 1 a 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The Advertiser 5 January 2017 Archived from the original on 31 October 2023 Retrieved 27 April 2023 ANU College of Law on LinkedIn Congratulations to Nick Bradman one of our outstanding mid year graduates www linkedin com Archived from the original on 29 August 2023 Retrieved 29 August 2023 University Medal and Postgraduate Medal for Academic Excellence ANU 24 October 2014 Archived from the original on 29 August 2023 Retrieved 29 August 2023 Bradmanesque www collinsdictionary com Archived from the original on 12 June 2018 Retrieved 30 January 2022 Guha Ramachandra 30 June 2016 The Picador Book of Cricket Pan Macmillan ISBN 9781509841400 Archived from the original on 31 October 2023 Retrieved 10 November 2020 via Google Books Market in Bradmanesque form www capitalmarket co in 7 February 2007 Archived from the original on 21 July 2011 Retrieved 2 March 2009 Perrin Andrew 4 October 2004 Asia s Heroes Muttiah Muralitharan Time Archived from the original on 16 September 2010 Retrieved 23 August 2008 Eason 2004 p 184 Crook Frank 8 February 2008 Real life drama on TV The Daily Telegraph Archived from the original on 7 March 2009 Retrieved 24 June 2008 Paul Kelly Lyrics amp Guitar Tabs Bradman Archived 31 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine Ted Egan This Land Australia 1989 retrieved 26 August 2022 Chaser Eulogy Song High Quality retrieved 26 August 2022 I Was a Mate of Don Bradman by Greg Champion Track Info AllMusic retrieved 26 August 2022 Dimensions transcript of interview with Kamahl Australian Broadcasting Corporation Archived from the original on 22 October 2008 Retrieved 17 June 2008 BRADMAN SONGWRITER The Sun No 1447 Sydney 21 December 1930 p 17 Retrieved 3 March 2018 via National Library of Australia Corporations Amendment Regulations 2000 No 8 Corporations Regulations 2001 Retrieved 17 June 2008 Corporations Regulations 2001 Retrieved 17 June 2008 Bradman honoured with musical cricket com au 14 August 2014 Retrieved 25 August 2022 SourcesBaldwin Mark 2005 The Ashes Strangest Moments Extraordinary But True Tales from Over a Century of the Ashes Franz Steiner Verlag ISBN 1 86105 863 2 Bradman Don 1950 Farewell to Cricket 1988 Pavilion Library reprint ISBN 1 85145 225 7 Cashman Richard et al editors 1996 The Oxford Companion to Australian Cricket Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 553575 8 Coleman Robert 1993 Seasons in the Sun the Story of the Victorian Cricket Association Hargreen Publishing Company ISBN 0 949905 59 3 Davis Charles 2000 The Best Of the Best A New Look at the Great Cricketers and Changing Times ABC Books ISBN 0 7333 0899 6 Dunstan Keith 1988 rev ed The Paddock That Grew Hutchinson Australia ISBN 0 09 169170 2 Eason Alan 2004 The A Z of Bradman ABC Books ISBN 0 7333 1517 8 Fingleton Jack 1949 Brightly Fades the Don 1985 Pavilion Library reprint ISBN 0 907516 69 6 Frith David 2002 Bodyline Autopsy ABC Books ISBN 0 7333 1321 3 Gibbs Barry 2001 My Cricket Journey Wakefield Press ISBN 1 86254 569 3 Harte Chris 1993 A History of Australian Cricket Andre Deutsch ISBN 0 233 98825 4 Haigh Gideon Sir Donald Bradman at 100 The Monthly August 2008 Haigh Gideon 1993 The Cricket War the Inside Story of Kerry Packer s World Series Cricket Text Publishing Company ISBN 1 86372 027 8 Hutchins Brett 2002 Don Bradman Challenging the Myth Cambridge University Press ISBN 0 521 82384 6 O Reilly Bill 1985 Tiger 60 Years of Cricket William Collins ISBN 0 00 217477 4 McGilvray Alan amp Tasker Norman 1985 The Game Is Not the Same ABC Books ISBN 978 0 642 52738 7 Page Michael 1983 Bradman The Illustrated Biography Macmillan Australia ISBN 0 333 35619 5 Perry Roland 1995 The Don A Biography of Sir Donald Bradman Macmillan ISBN 0 7329 0827 2 Robinson Ray 1981 rev ed On Top Down Under Cassell Australia ISBN 0 7269 7381 5 Rosenwater Irving 1978 Sir Donald Bradman A Biography Batsford ISBN 0 7134 0664 X Wallace Christine 2004 The Private Don Allen amp Unwin ISBN 978 1 74175 158 1 Whitington RS 1974 The Book of Australian Test Cricket 1877 1974 Wren Publishing ISBN 0 85885 197 0 Williams Charles 1996 Bradman An Australian Hero 2001 Abacus reprint ISBN 0 349 11475 7 Wisden Cricketers Almanack various editions accessed via ESPN CricinfoExternal links nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Donald Bradman nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to Don Bradman Don Bradman at ESPNcricinfo A profile of Don Bradman by Dave Liverman Bradman Museum and Bradman Oval Bradman Digital Library State Library of South Australia The Bradman Trail Don Bradman on Picture Australia Interview with Bradman 1930 Don Bradman TV documentary Australian Broadcasting Corporation Some images of Don Bradman including some showing Don Bradman s batting technique Listen to a young Don Bradman speaking after the 1930 Ashes tour on australianscreen onlineSporting positionsPreceded byVic RichardsonBill Brown Australian Test cricket captain1936 7 19381946 7 1948 Succeeded byBill BrownLindsay HassettPreceded byBill DowlingBob Parish Chairman of the Australian Cricket Board1960 19631969 1972 Succeeded byEwart MacmillanTim CaldwellRecordsPreceded byAndy Sandham World record Highest individual score in Test cricket334 vs England at Leeds 1930 Succeeded byWally HammondPreceded byBill Ponsford Highest individual score in first class cricket452 not out New South Wales v Queensland at Sydney 1929 30 Succeeded byHanif Mohammad Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Don Bradman amp oldid 1215636995, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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