Home ›› 17 Sep 2021 ›› Sport
Dear readers, are you ready to join us on a trip down memory lane and revisit some of the greatest cricket matches of yesteryears and meet some iconic cricketers of the world who made the Gentleman’s Game truly enjoyable? On occasions, we shall write about a match or a cricketer and his contribution to the game.
Today we shall talk about the greatest among the greats Sir Don Bradman.
Which appellation do you think describes him best? The Run Machine. The Wizard with the Willow. The Cricketing Legend. Master Cricketer. Greatest Phenomenon in Cricket. Don of Cricket.
Like you, I have also read about Don Bradman, the legendary batsman of Australia, in the old newspapers and sports magazines. Accomplished cricketers of his time, his teammates or those from other countries like England, India and West Indies, paid tributes to this prolific cricketer abundantly about his techniques and achievements. Players from rival teams in a test match used to be in awe when he scored a century keeping his demeanour the same from start to end.
It is such a pity that he played in the pre-digital era when games were recorded by movie cameras. But then again, we want to thank God that he was not in the cricketing scene before that. We would have really missed watching him playing like a machine in those movie camera reels.
Some clips can still be found on YouTube. ‘How to Play Cricket’ is one where he can be seen playing his tell-tale shots. He also lent the background voice. One would simply marvel at his quick feet movement, at ease at both front foot and back foot drives. Watch how his entire body moves on his heels during a pull shot and how quickly he changes his position based on the merit of the incoming ball. Hardly bowlers could fool him with weird deliveries.
When we read his amazing cricketing career we tend to believe that the wizard with the willow was perhaps born to create records of amazing extents. He played 234 first-class matches with an average of 95.14. Best ever!!
Recordkeepers like the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack tells us, “throughout the 1930s and 40s Bradman was the world’s master cricketer, so far ahead of everyone else that comparisons became pointless. In 1930, he scored 974 runs in the series, 309 of them in one amazing day at Headingley, and in seven Test series against England he remained a figure of utter dominance; Australia lost the Ashes only once, in 1932-33, when England were so spooked by Bradman that they devised a system of bowling, Bodyline, that history has damned as brutal and unfair, simply to thwart him. He still averaged 56 in the series.”
It further states, “In 80 innings in Tests he scored 29 centuries. He needed just four in his last Test innings, at The Oval in 1948, to ensure an average of 100 - but was out second ball for 0, a rare moment of human failing that only added to his everlasting appeal. Bradman made all those runs at high speed in a manner that bewildered opponents and entranced spectators.”
My concluding remarks: Can anyone ever score a 100 in just 22 balls?
Shahnoor Wahid is the Associate Editor at The Business Post. The article is written with the support of CricInfo and Wisden
