The story that the young Bradman practised alone with a cricket stump and a golf ball is part of Australian folklore. Bradman's meteoric rise from bush cricket to the Australian Test team took just over two years. Before his 22nd birthday, he had set many records for top scoring, some of which still stand, and became Australia's sporting idol at the height of the Great Depression.

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During a 20-year playing career, Bradman consistently scored at a level that made him, in the words of former Australia captain Bill Woodfull, "worth three batsmen to Australia". A controversial set of tactics, known as Bodyline, was specifically devised by the England team to curb his scoring. As a captain and administrator, Bradman was committed to attacking, entertaining cricket; he drew spectators in record numbers. He hated the constant adulation, however, and it affected how he dealt with others. The focus of attention on his individual performances strained relationships with some team-mates, administrators and journalists, who thought him aloof and wary.

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Bradman's early development was shaped by the high bounce of the ball on matting-over-concrete pitches. He favoured "horizontal-bat" shots (such as the hook, pull and cut) to deal with the bounce and devised a unique grip on the bat handle that would accommodate these strokes without compromising his ability to defend. Employing a side-on stance at the wicket, Bradman kept perfectly still as the bowler ran in. His backswing had a "crooked" look that troubled his early critics, but he resisted entreaties to change. His backswing kept his hands in close to the body, leaving him perfectly balanced and able to change his stroke mid-swing, if need be. Another telling factor was the decisiveness of Bradman's footwork. He "used the crease" by either coming metres down the wicket to drive, or playing so far back that his feet ended up level with the stumps when playing the cut, hook or pull.

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Bradman's game evolved with experience. He temporarily adapted his technique during the Bodyline series, deliberately moving around the crease in an attempt to score from the short pitched deliveries. At his peak, in the mid-1930s, he had the ability to switch between a defensive and attacking approach as the occasion demanded.

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Following an enforced hiatus due to the Second World War, he made a dramatic comeback, captaining an Australian team known as "The Invincibles" on a record-breaking unbeaten tour of England.

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He adjusted to bat within the limitations set by his age, becoming a steady "accumulator" of runs. However, Bradman never truly

mastered batting on sticky wickets. Wisden commented, "if there really is a blemish on his amazing record it is ... the absence of a significant innings on one of those 'sticky dogs' of old"

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A complex, highly driven man, not given to close personal relationships, Bradman retained a pre-eminent position in the game by acting as an administrator, selector and writer for three decades following his retirement. Even after he became reclusive in his declining years his opinion was highly sought, and his status as a national icon was still recognised—more than 50 years after his retirement as a Test player, in 2001, Prime Minister John Howard of Australia called him the "greatest living Australian".

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Bradman's image has appeared on postage stamps and coins, and a museum dedicated to his life was opened while he was still living. On the centenary of his birth, 27 August 2008, the Royal Australian Mint issued a $5 commemorative gold coin with Bradman's image, and on 19 November 2009, he was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

 

Bradman still holds the following significant

records for Test match cricket:

 

• Highest career batting average (minimum 20 innings): 99.94

• Highest series batting average (4 or more Test series): 201.50

  (1931–32) and second highest 178.75 (1947–48)

• Highest ratio of centuries per innings played: 36.25% (29 centuries

  from 80 innings)

• Highest ratio of double centuries per innings played:

  15.0% (12 double centuries from 80 innings)

• Highest 5th wicket partnership: 405 (with Sid Barnes, 1946–47)

• Second highest 6th wicket partnership: 346 (with Jack Fingleton,

  1936–37)

• Second highest score by a number 5 batsman: 304 (1934)

• Highest score by a number 7 batsman: 270 (1936–37)

• Most runs against one opponent: 5,028 (v England)

• Most runs in one series: 974 (1930)

• Most centuries scored in a single session of play: 6 (1 pre lunch,

  2 lunch-tea, 3 tea-stumps)

• Most runs in one day's play: 309 (1930)

• Most double centuries: 12

• Most double centuries in a series: 3 (1930)

• Most triple centuries: 2 (equal with Chris Gayle, Brian Lara and

  Virender Sehwag)

• Most consecutive matches in which he made a century: 6 (the last

  three Tests in 1936–37, and the first three Tests in 1938)

• Fastest Australian to reach 1000 Test runs (13 innings).

• Fewest matches required to reach 1000 (7 matches), 2000 (15

  matches), 3000 (23  matches), 4000 (31 matches), 5000 (36 matches)

  and 6000 (45 matches) Test runs.

• Fewest innings required to reach 2000 (22 innings),

  3000 (33 innings), 4000 (48 innings), 5000 (56 innings) and 6000

  (68 innings) Test runs.

• Bradman has averaged over 100 in seven different calendar years

  (*qualification 400 runs). No other player has achieved this in more

  than two calendar years.

Source: wikipedia.com

Images: Believed to be in the Public Domain or used with permission

Bradman's high backlift and lengthy forward stride were characteristic.

The 1930s Bardsley-Gregory cricket team.

Don Bradman in middle, front row.

Bradman and England captain Gubby Allen toss at the start of the 1936–37 Ashes series.

Statue of Donald Bradman outside the Adelaide Oval

Photo: National Library of Australia/Wikimedia • Believed to be in the Public Domain (age - copyright expired)

Photo: The State Library of New South Wales • Believed to be in the Public Domain (age - copyright expired)