Legends of Cricket: Bettor.com’s World XI – Sir Donald Bradman
Sometimes in one’s lifetime one wishes to be part of something special. Something unique, out of the ordinary. It is at times like these that we wish, we could have seen the hanging gardens of Babylon, or maybe the making of the pyramids. Sometimes we wish
that we would somehow make it to the moon, in some chance of fate we end up in a space shuttle headed to mars. Or maybe get to see the Titanic.
I was a teenager when I witnessed history in the making when John Glenn the oldest ever astronaut flew into space. A few years later, being lost for words I witnessed the death of a man, who had made history and while he was at it, many of us wished we were
a part of it.
It was February 25th 2001 when we lost Sir Donald Bradman. In a few years time, we will lose those few alive, who have seen this king of cricket, play the game.
The chances of giving birth to a Nobel prize winner, is one in eighty thousand. The chances of reaching the summits of Mount Everest is one in 2 million. The chances of being attacked by a crocodile is one in 35 million. The chances of being killed by a
meteorite, one in a hundred million. The chances of having another Donald Bradman playing in the field of cricket is one in 6 billion.
To say that he was the best that ever played, would be an understatement to his memory. Sir Donald Bradman was the greatest that ever lived, that ever played, that ever held a bat, that ever stroked a ball, that ever walked on the cricket field.
Bradman in his years and in those circumstances was just a one off for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746. He was an inspiration for a country that was struggling. He would have crowds waiting for him to make his appearance on the field, and once he headed back he would go straight
home. The crowd would leave too, they no longer were interested in the game. They wanted to see Bradman. Hitting a golf ball with a wicket onto a tank was one of his favourite past times, something that in the words of Steve Waugh is next to impossible.
His statistics might go on to indicate the level of his accomplishments but they were not the truest reflection of the level of his accomplishments. In just 52 Test matches played, Bradman scored 29 Test hundreds that include twelve double centuries, two
triple centuries.
He was the fastest player to reach 2000 runs in 22 innings, 3000 runs in 33 innings, 4000 runs in 48 innings, 5000 in 56 innings and 6000 runs in 68 innings. He also has the record for the highest 5th wicket partnership, the highest 6th
wicket partnership, the highest series batting average of 201, the highest career batting average of 99.94.
Bradman was born in a small town of Bowral and little did anyone know that this young boy would soon be treated like a king, in fact even more than http://www.senore.com/Cricket/A-King-c41197. His image has appeared on postage stamps and coins, and he was perhaps the first living Australian
to have a museum dedicated to his life. On August 27 2008, a few years after his death the Royal Australian Mint issued a 5 dollar gold coin with his image in the memory of the legend.
Bradman has given to cricket individually what many have failed to do collectively. He made it a fashion, a statement, a trend to be talked about. He symbolised the mastery of a great painting, the subtlety of the composition of Mozart, It was the sight
of something bigger, something larger than life, something alien and Bradman was all that.
In the words of a famous cricket historian, “To see Bradman bat in a Test match was as ennobling as to have watched Babe Ruth at Yankee Stadium and Ali at Madison Square Garden, and perhaps Caruso at La Scala and the Beatles at the Cavern as well”.
In a tribute to the great legend, an English journalist, Michael Parkinson, tells the tale of his father, who people called a mad man. A miner by profession, he used to walk 30 miles from Barnsley South http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Yorkshire-c867 to see Bradman bat, and wondered why people
found this strange.
“Upon his return he faced a family who clearly believed he had a slate loose. Who, in their right mind, would waste that much precious shoe-leather to see a cricket match? My father went to his grave unrepentant. Retelling the story - as he did many times
- he'd say, "But I saw HIM bat and they didn't".
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