A Small Tribute To Don Bradman
Don Bradman was an international cricket player of the Australian team and he is widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all the time. He was born in Cootamundra town of New South Wales, Australia.
It’s been exactly 19 years, that cricket world has lost an excellent batsman like him. He was passed away on 25th February 2001, after battling pneumonia at the age of 92.
Bradman went on setting one record after another to become the best batsman of his time and some of his records are still untouched by any batsman.
He retired from the game after adding 29 Test centuries to his name in just 52 matches.
Bradman’s extraordinary Test career took place from November 1928 to August 1948 and during that period he was part of 2 Australia teams. 1928-1929 was his debut series in the Ashes but unluckily they lost the series.
In 1932-33, the England player Douglas Jardine used his ‘Bodyline’ strategy to prevent the batsmen from opposition team to score runs easily. But even this theory of Douglas couldn’t stop Bradman from smashing a century and 3 half-centuries.
Don Bradman And His 5 Batting Records
There are 5 Bradman records that might never be broken. Here, we have described some records of Don Bradman in the article to pay a rich tribute to one of the best sportsmen who ever lived.
1. The Astonishing Average Of 99.94
Bradman had an average of 99.94 effectively which means the player was scoring almost a century in every innings, which is a mind-blowing fact on its own.
Another record by the batsman is his average of 101.51 while leading Australia. In the present time, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith are the only players who come closest to Bradman with averages of 63.43 and 62.84 respectively.
But both the players will need to come up with some real miracles with the bat if they want to fill up this gap with the legend.
2. The Enormous Total Of 5028
Bradman’s scored a huge total of 5028 in just 37 Tests against a single opponent England and till today, it remains the most runs scored by a batsman against a single team.
If estimated overall, the England player Jack Hobbs scored 3636 runs against Australia and Sachin Tendulkar from India scored 3630 against Australia. And even after playing more matches than Bradman, they stay at 2nd and 3rd position respectively on this list.
Currently, Steve Smith with 2800 runs in Ashes contest is leading the race but he doesn’t stand a chance to beat Bradman’s total even if he scores about 700 runs in each of the next 3 Ashes series.
3. 19 Century Against A Single Opposition
While considering the record of scoring the most runs against a single opposition, it was found that Bradman’s 19 century against England is taking the first spot in the record list.
The former opener of India, Sunil Gavaskar comes 2nd with 13 hundred against West Indies. Among current players, Steve Smith is the leader with 11 hundred against England.
He needs 9 more centuries in Ashes if he is to overtake Bradman which might prove to be too much even for the run-machine Smith.
4. The Average of 74.5 Against The Old Teams
Bradman didn’t get the chance to play against most of the modern teams. Back then, during his time only India, West Indies, England, South Africa, and Australia were the Test-playing countries. And against each opposition, his average was 74.5.
This record is something that is beyond the control of modern players as some of them don’t play too many games against every team which could allow them to bump up their average. Certainly, this record of Bradman might stay with him till Test cricket continues to be played.
5. Getting Faster After The Debut
While considering the high batting average of Bradman, it is obvious to think that he must have been fastest in completing numerous 1000 Test runs. But the fact is Bradman kept on getting better after his debut just like most other players.
He was the 3rd fastest batsman, who took 13 innings to complete 1000 Test runs, since then he managed to complete the next five 1000 runs milestones faster than any other player in the history of the game.
He retired from the game after adding 6996 runs to his name that other players could take as a challenge for themselves and try for fastest 7000 or more Test runs.
Bradman’s Progression In The Game Is As Follows:
- 1000 runs in 13 innings
- 2000 runs in 22 innings
- 3000 runs in 33 innings
- 4000 runs in 48 innings
- 5000 runs in 56 innings
- 6000 runs in 68 innings
These records are a small glimpse of Bradman’s actual achievement in his Test career. He has left an unfading mark in the cricket world with his superhuman batting.
Young cricketers from all over the world dream to follow him. Thus this is the essence given by Bradman’s true cricketing legacy.
