Happy Birthday Wishes to Sir Don Bradman: Well, there have been so many batsmen in the world of cricket. Many warriors came and went. But no batsman has ever produced magic like Sir Don Bradman. He was called the Don of Cricket. When Bradman came to the crease, even the best bowlers would be stunned.
Sir Donald George Bradman, one of the greatest batsmen in the world of cricket, was born on this day (27 August) in 1908 in Cootamundra, New South Wales, Australia. Bradman, who played only 52 Tests for Australia, had an average of 99.94, which is still unbroken. With this excellent average, Bradman scored a total of 6996 runs. He scored a total of 6 triple centuries in his career. There has been no other talent like Bradman in cricket till date.
The Kangaroo team suffered a serious injury in the debut match
Sir Don made his international cricket debut in November 1928. That debut Test was not memorable for Don, but many interesting statistics came to light during that Test played against England in Brisbane (30 November to 5 December 1928).
Above all, as soon as Don entered international cricket, Australia received a wound that has not healed till date. In his debut Test, Don came in at number seven for Australia and scored 18 runs in the first innings. Whereas in the second innings, he could score only 1 run at number six. England defeated Australia badly in that Brisbane Test.
The English team won that match by 675 runs. Interestingly, this is still a world record for the highest victory by runs in a Test match. Although Australia defeated England by 562 runs in 1934, the figure of 675 runs is still far away from them.
Biggest defeats in Test cricket in terms of runs:
Australia (by 675 runs) v England, Brisbane 1928
England (by 562 runs) vs Australia, The Oval 1934
Afghanistan (by 546 runs) vs Bangladesh, Mirpur 2023
South Africa (530 runs) v Australia, Melbourne 1911
Australia (by 492 runs) v South Africa, Johannesburg 2018
4 runs needed to take the average to 100
Don made his Test debut at the age of 20. Interestingly, Brett Ironmonger, who was making his debut with him, was 46 years old. Ironmonger was the oldest player to make his Test debut for Australia at that time. Bradman needed just four runs in his last Test innings to take his career average to 100.
In that Test against England, Australian legend Bradman was bowled while playing the second ball. His dream wicket was taken by English legbreak googly bowler Eric Hollies. Bradman also missed out on scoring 7000 runs in his Test career. Ultimately, he bid adieu to cricket with 6996 runs in 52 Test matches at an average of 99.94.
Bradman scored 29 centuries and 13 half-centuries in Test cricket. In first-class cricket, Don scored 28067 runs in 234 matches at an average of 95.14, in which he has 117 centuries and 69 half-centuries to his name. This king of cricket breathed his last on 25 February 2001 at the age of 92 years and 182 days.
Bradman’s special records at a glance…
1. He scored 309 runs in a single day match. This is the highest score made by any batsman in a single day match.
2. He has 12 double centuries to his name, the most by any player, and 2 triple centuries, along with 14 hundreds.
3. It is believed that if he had played the same number of innings as Tendulkar (15,291), his total runs would have been 29,583.
4. He hit only 6 sixes in his entire career.
5. He used to say that if it is difficult then I will do it now and if it is impossible then I will do it immediately.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)