Sir Donald Bradman (1908-2001) is widely regarded as the greatest batsman in the history of the sport of cricket. He represented Australia in test cricket from 1928 to 1948.
In that time he played 52 Test centuries, which included a highest score of 334. Remarkably he achieve a Test batting average of 99.94. This is considered by many to be one of the greatest achievement in any sport. In his final test innings he only needed 4 runs to to finish with a Test batting average of 100. Unfortunately he was dismissed for 0, leaving him with his final figure of 99.94.
During the 1932-33 Ashes tour of Australia, the English captain Douglas Jardine devised a physically intimidating bowling technique, specifically designed to neutralise the batting dominance of Bradman.
The strategy involved fast bowlers delivering the ball at high speed directed squarely at the batsman’s body or chest. To counter these rising deliveries, batsmen were forced to defend themselves using their bats, resulting in a high likelihood of the ball popping up into the air.
The tactic caused outrage amongst Australian supporters and players, especially after Australia captain Bill Woodfull was hit and the skull of wicketkeeper Bert Oldfield was fractured.
Following this the Laws of Cricket were altered to prevent this happening again.
Bradman captained Australia’s famous 1948 “Invincibles” team, which completed an unbeaten tour of England, not only did they win the test series unbeaten, but didn’t lose any of their tour matches.
Following the 1948 tour Sir Donald Bradman was knighted in the 1949 New Year Honours for his services to cricket and Commonwealth relations.
After retiring, he continued to serve the game as an administrator, selector, author, and commentator.
Books
Our Don Bradman 1908-2008: The Greatest Cricket Story Ever Told