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'Dominant figure' Australian great Sir Donald Bradman dies at 92
Updated: Monday February 26, 2001 10:08 PM
SYDNEY (Reuters) -- Sir Donald Bradman, the most prolific batsman in test cricket who died on Sunday aged 92, was idolized by generations of Australians as the greatest sportsman in the country's history. Revered for his exploits at the crease either side of World War Two, the increasingly reclusive Bradman surrendered his wicket as grudgingly as he would embrace public adulation later in life. The country boy from Australia's bush, regarded by many of his sports-mad compatriots as a living icon, rewrote the record books during a first-class career that spanned 21 years and inspired a growing nation. Australian Prime Minister John Howard once described Bradman as a national treasure and Australia's first great hero. "[I] sent our love to the Bradman family and record the appreciation of the Australian people for a wonderful life which not only gave this country and the world the greatest cricketer but, according to many people who compare these things, perhaps the greatest sportsman in 100 years," Howard said on Monday.
Statistically, no other batsman before or since has threatened to equal Bradman's domination of opposing bowling attacks. ImageHis image as a player -- his wiry frame, confident swagger to the wicket and baggy green cap -- came to symbolize Australian sport during the 1930s and 1940s. Nicknamed "The Don," Bradman compiled runs -- 6,996 in 52 tests, at an average of 99.94 -- with an unerring and relentless precision that has remained unequalled. Only a stunning failure in his last test innings before retirement at The Oval in 1948, denied Bradman a magical test average of 100. Needing to score only four runs to achieve the landmark figure, Bradman was dismissed for a duck -- much to the disbelief of the huge crowd who had flocked to the London ground to farewell him. Universally admired and celebrated for his feats, Bradman earned the unfailing respect of his fellow Australians, who, as a nation, laud sportsmen and women above all public figures. His timely emergence in the early 1930s during the grim days of the Depression, when one third of Australians were out of work, lifted the morale of the entire country. But despite their obvious respect and admiration, the public's genuine affection proved more elusive, with many of his compatriots and cricketing contemporaries viewing Bradman as aloof and single-minded. In all, Bradman played 338 first-class innings, scoring 28,067 runs at an average of 95.14. Statistically, his achievements have never been threatened, let alone equaled. AchievementsBradman's achievements would have been even more daunting but for an enforced break in his career when he served in the Royal Australian Air Force and army during World War Two. In later years, Bradman shunned publicity, making only occasional public appearances and agreeing to even fewer media interviews. If anything, his reclusive lifestyle merely added to his mystic appeal in Australia. However, Bradman made an exception in 1988 when he recorded a series of interviews charting his life with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to mark the nation's bi-centenary. In 1996, after rejecting a succession of lucrative offers, Bradman agreed to an interview with Australia's Channel Nine network, owned by billionaire Kerry Packer. But his motive was not for profit. The publicity-shy Bradman only agreed on the understanding that Packer would make a donation, believed to be A$1.0 million (US$525,000), to complete construction of the Bradman Museum in his home town of Bowral in rural New South Wales. Asked during the interview to explain why his records have remaining unchallenged, The Don struggled for an answer, saying: "I saw much better batsmen than I was. Lots of them... they just kept getting out." During another interview, Bradman, who was knighted in 1949, talked about a game he invented as a boy which, unbeknown to him at the time, helped develop his phenomenal reflexes and timing. SchoolFor hours after school each night, the young Don would practice his batting, using a cricket stump, golf ball, and a rusty water tank. "I threw the golf ball at the tank with one hand, while holding the stump with the other hand, and as the ball rebounded I gripped the stump in two hands and tried to play a shot," explained Bradman. "At the time I had not the slightest idea this would build my reflexes. I was only trying to amuse myself." Those lightning reflexes, which Bradman believed were enhanced by his insistence on using a lighter bat, were put to the severest test during the infamous "Bodyline" series against England in 1932-33. Three years earlier during Australia's victorious Ashes tour to England, Bradman had humbled the English bowling attack, scoring a then test world record score of 334 at Headingley in Leeds. England captain, Douglas Jardine, desperate to win back the Ashes on Australian soil, devised an intimidating form of bowling to curb Bradman. England's fast bowlers, led by the fiery Harold Larwood, aimed short-pitch legside deliveries at the batsman's body rather than the wicket. The tactic, branded unsportsmanlike by Australians, strained relations between the two countries. But it worked, shaking Bradman's dominance for the first and only time. LoftyEngland, who comfortably won the series 4-1, restricted Bradman to a batting average of 56.57 for the series -- a highly respectable performance in itself but one considered mediocre by his own lofty standards. In 1934, Bradman exacted revenge by amassing over 2,000 runs in England, including 304 in a test at Headingley. Two years later, he took over as Australian captain, leading the country for 12 years until his retirement. Born in Cootamundra in rural New South Wales on August 27, 1908, Bradman moved as a child to Bowral, 80 km (50 miles) southwest of Sydney. Although he lived with his wife Jessie in Adelaide for most of his adult life, Bradman has always been associated with Bowral. It was here that the couple met in childhood before joining in a marriage that lasted 65 years until Jessie died of cancer, aged 88, in September 1997. The town honored its favorite adopted son in 1989 by opening a museum to commemorate his achievements, including scoring over 300 runs on six occasions and hitting hundreds in six successive innings. He also scored a then world record 452 not out for New South Wales against Queensland in 1929, one of 127 first class centuries -- another Australian record. After retiring, Bradman became an Australian selector and remained active behind the scenes until 1986 when he severed all official links with the game. Following the proliferation of test cricket over the past 20 years, several players have surpassed Bradman's test aggregate score. But no-one has threatened his status as cricket's greatest ever batsman. Bradman's achievements have only grown in time. Former Australian captain Mark Taylor equaled Bradman's Australian test record of 334 against Pakistan in 1998, but declined the opportunity to pass him, declaring his innings closed out of respect to The Don. When former Australian captain Allan Border became the highest test scorer in history in February, 1993, with 10,161 runs from 139 tests, he put his achievement in perspective by saying: "Goodness knows how many runs Sir Don would have got in that many tests."
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