Sir Donald Bradman – “The Don” – is unquestionably the greatest batsman ever to grace a cricket field.
Sir Donald Bradman – “The Don” – is unquestionably the greatest batsman ever to grace a cricket field.
In his final Test match he seemed destined to end a flawless career with an unprecedented average of a century per innings.
But fate intervened on a rain-sodden pitch at the Oval.
In a Test career spanning almost 20 years, Bradman strode to the crease 80 times. On 29 occasions he returned to the pavilion with a century. On 12 of those 29 occasions he made a double century. Two of those 12 he converted into a triple.
A technique based on technical perfection and unstinting mental application yielded 6,996 runs in just 52 matches.
Even when Douglas Jardine’s England touring side rattled him by bowling a barrage of short-pitch deliveries in the infamous Bodyline series, he still averaged over 56.
Bradman’s farewell series was on the tour to England in 1948, where he captained one of the strongest cricket teams in history.
The tourists dominated the series and were 3-0 up when they arrived at the Oval in South London for the fifth Test. On a wet pitch England decided to bat first and collapsed to 52 all out.
In reply, Australia’s opening pair of Sidney Barnes and Arthur Morris put on 117 for the first wicket.
As the evening shadows lengthened, Bradman emerged from the pavilion to a standing ovation.
When he arrived at the crease all the English players doffed their caps and gave him three cheers.
As the crowd settled down the leg-spinner Eric Hollies prepared to bowl to Bradman, who played his first ball defensively.
The second, a googly, slipped past the edge of the great man’s bat and bowled him.
Bradman glanced back at the stumps and then walked off to another standing ovation.
He was rumoured to have had tears in his eyes which obstructed his view of the ball – but he always adamantly denied it.
England’s poor batting display denied Bradman another chance to bat.
His final innings duck left him with an overall Test average of 99.94.
A single boundary would have been enough for him to finish with an average of 100.
Decades later, when Bradman was asked to identify the player who most reminded him of himself he invariably mentioned India’s Sachin Tendulkar, a man who blends Bradmanesque application and technical excellence.
A Test player by the age of 16, Tendulkar is by some distance the leading century-maker in Test history, with a career average over 55.
Two West Indians stand out among a host of great international batsmen.
Sir Viv Richards is arguably the most stylish and destructive batsman of all time.
Capable of seemingly impossible strokes, he still holds the record for the fastest century in Test cricket (56 balls) against England at St John’s, Antigua, in 1986.
Brian Lara is the only modern Test batsman who has come close to emulating Bradman’s 12 double centuries – with nine. Blighted at times by impetuousness, he was unstoppable when his mind was right.
He holds the record for the highest – 400 not out – and third highest – 375 – individual Test scores, and the highest score in first-class cricket: 501 not out.
A long list of great English batsmen must include Len Hutton, Jack Hobbs, Geoffrey Boycott and Graham Gooch - although their stellar records are under threat from England's golden crop of modern players including Kevin Pietersen and Alastair Cook.
Hutton in particular was able to adapt to a variety of pitch conditions and all types of bowling, mixing defence and attack as the match situation dictated.
He scored 6,971 Test runs at an average of 55.71, making 19 hundreds, with a top score of 364 – the highest by an Englishman.
