by Pauline Abreu

Created on: July 08, 2009

Sir Donald Bradman, also known as The Don, was the greatest batsman in the history of cricket. The Australian cricketer averaged a score of 99.94, making him statistically the best player of all time. There was a forced lapse in his game play due to the Second World War, but he came back with avengance when he took the role of captain of an Australian team name The invincibles. The team made a record breaking unbeaten tour of England.

Don Bradman was shy about his status in the industry and was not keen on publicity, but for a man such as Bradman there was no getting away from the celebrity position he portrayed. Even after he retired and was out of the limelight he was still an administrator, selector, and writer for the game of cricket. His image appeared on postage stamps and coins, he was the first living Australian to have a museum dedicated to his life.

Born in 1908 his cricketing days started during his youth. It is said that he first played his own version of the game using a cricket stump for a bat and a golf ball. There was a water tank in his back yard that was surrounded by a curved brick wall. He would hit the ball off the wall then try and hit it again as it bounced back in his direction. A century is when a batsman scores 100 or more runs in the innings, and Bradman scored his first when he played for Bowral Public School at the age of 12.

He left school in 1922 to work for a real estate agent, the company gave him time off when he needed it to pursue his cricket ambition. He got into tennis for a couple of years and became excellent at both sports. Don was chosen for both the tennis and cricket Country Week tournaments, faced with an ultimatum he choose cricket over tennis. After being involved in the 1930's Ashes series of cricket in England he played the first West Indian side to arrive in Australia.

A few weeks after his marriage to Jessie Menzies in 1932 Bradman joined a private team owned by Arthur Mailey. The couple treated the tour of Canada and Australia as a honeymoon. Donald played 51 games in 75 days at this point in his career. In 1934 he was appointed team captain for the tour of England. His health however was not up to par at this time and it was said he was having heart trouble. He came close to death when he suffered from appendicitis, having to be operated, he lost a lot of blood. The hospital appealed for blood donors, and got more donors than they ever anticipated. He took several months to recover and missed the 1934-35 Australian season.

Bradman still holds records for test match cricket to this day. He has the highest batting average, most runs in one series, most double centuries, most triple centuries, highest ration of centuries to innings played, and much more records too. Towards the end he was hospitalized with pneomonea, he returned home where he died in 2001 at the age of 92.

Learn more about this author, Pauline Abreu.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.