Sports Desk – Don Bradman, a name that almost all the cricket lovers are aware to. The greatest batsman of all time is described in a short article.
Early Life
Don Bradman (Full name- Donald George Bradman) was born on 27 August, 1908 in Cootamundra, Australia. His father – George Bradman was a carpenter and his mother – Emily Bradman was a housewife. He was the youngest of the five brothers and sisters.
He was so dedicated to cricket that he used to play it with a cricket stump as a bat and a golf ball. At the age of 12 only, he scored his first century through his school – Bowral Public School. After two years when he was 14, he left his school and started working as a real estate agent. Watching his passion and love for cricket, his employer gave his time off whenever he needed.
Career
After five years of hard work, when he turned 19, he made his debut at the Adelaide Oval in which he scored his first ever century (118 runs) as a professional player. On November 1928, he played his first test match against England. He gave a poor performance in that match but in spite of that, he showed his cricketing skills and scored 79 and 112 runs in the third test of the series. Hence, he became the youngest player to make a test century at that time.
In 1930 Ashes series, he smashed 131 runs in the first test and 254 in the second test. After these incredible centuries, he hit two centuries in both the innings of the third test. In the fourth test and final test, he marked the double century to give an outstanding performance in the whole series and helped Australia win the series.
Till then, when the world was suffering from Great Depression, he became so popular throughout the world.
During the 1932-33 Ashes, Don faced many problems regarding his batting skills as he was not given many opportunities to play lofted shots and was bowl in the line of the leg stump. This tactic by the English captain – Douglas Jardine threatened the Kangaroos and England won the series. That Ashes series became the toughest series Don had ever faced.
Apart from his poor innings, he was fantastic in the 1938 tour of England. He smashed 13 centuries in 26 innings.
During the Second World War, he joined the Royal Australian Air Force in 1940 and deemed fit for the air crew duty. But soon, he was transferred to the army and became a Lieutenant. He was then posted to the Army School of Physical Training and due to the physical stress of this job, he suffered from serious health conditions, causing him to be invalided out of service in 1941. He returned to playing cricket in the mid-1940s and played his final Test at The Oval against England in 1948. Unfortunately, he got out for a duck (means scoring zero runs), ending his test career with an average of 99.94 which is approximately 100. An average of 100 is the one which every batsman wants to have but till now, Don Bradman is the only player to have it.
During the last moments of his life, he suffered from Pneumonia and died on 25 February, 2001 in Kensington Park, Australia.
He is now regarded as the greatest batsman of all time and often referred to as ‘The Don’.
This was the short life description about him. You will read about Vivian Richards in the next story.
