Cricketing Greats : Sir Donald Bradman Myth or Legend
Sir Donald Bradman is hailed as one of the greatest cricketers ever. His unbelievable test record is unmatched to this day and he was the first cricketer to be knighted for his services to the game. But it seems that the great cricketer has gotten lost in the myth surrounding him and the real man has been forgotten in the hype and coverage that surrounded him.
First of all we should mention here the feats of the great cricketer. His impeccable test cricket batting record of 99.94 has stood the test of time and is unmatched to this day. He scored 6996 runs in test cricket with a high score of 334 runs. He scored 29 centuries and 13 fifties during his career.
His batting skills are phenomenal and no one has been able to better his records. His batting performance was so great that he was knighted for his services to cricket and he was and is the only cricketer to get this honour till this day. The fact remains that he did more for the relations of Australia and England than any other cricketer at the time.
There is another school of thought out there that does not necessarily agree with claiming that Don Bradman was so great. It is interesting to note here that in surveys of the greatest athlete ever, Sir Donald Bradman does not feature anywhere near the top ten. The argument given for this is that cricket is not really a global sport and is only enjoyed in the former colonies of the British Empire. In comparison, football is played all over the world and almost everyone can name a great footballer while Bradman is only known by die hard cricket fans and most Australians. It is said that Sir Don cannot even lay claim to being the greatest cricketer ever because there are two distinct aspects to cricket, batting and bowling. Bradman's bowling average was horrendous and he could not manage any sort of greatness when it came to bowling.
Many other aspects of cricket come to light at the time when Bradman played. First of all the only really strong team out there was England and Australia played against them mostly until India and South Africa showed up. These two fledgling cricket countries really helped The Don's average because he was able to score a lot of runs against relatively new teams. This in no way takes away from the fact that he was the greatest cricket batsman ever to play the game. But it gets a bit fuzzy when we talk about him being the best cricketer ever or the best sports person ever. Then he may not be able to stand against some of the more rounded and even sports stars out there.
There is another aspect of Bradman's greatness that comes into question; his personality. He was allegedly introverted, calculating, methodical, cold and sometimes remote. These qualities surely helped him during his batting career but they made him a person who did not socialise too much and he lived a secluded life. When he passed away Bradman declined a state funeral, did not want any statues erected of him and generally did not want his death to be made into a spectacle. This aspect of his character made sure that his real personality and characteristics were forgotten and with limited media attention even when he died, this great cricketer was sent to the annals of history for only curious cricket fans to find. Due to the fact that he seemed to decline the fame that hounded him meant that he will never be as famous as he could have been. It is sad but this is the paradoxical aspect of fame; with it a person never has a private life, without it they are never famous enough.
Whatever the different schools of thought say about Don Bradman, he was and will always be a great cricketer and an Australian national hero. He will always be remembered for his achievements in life and for someone like Bradman that seems to be enough.
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