Sir

Don Bradman

AC

Bradman in 1930
Personal information
Full name	Donald George Bradman
Born	(1908-08-27)27 August 1908 Cootamundra, New South Wales, Australia
Died	25 February 2001(2001-02-25) (aged 92) Kensington Park, South Australia
Nickname	The Don The Boy from Bowral Braddles the White Headley
Height	1.70[1][2] m (5 ft 7 in)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm leg break
Role	Batsman
Relations	2 children, including John 3 grandchildren, including Greta
International information
National side	Australia (1928–1948)
Test debut (cap 124)	30 November 1928 v England
Last Test	18 August 1948 v England
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1927/28–1933/34	New South Wales
1935/36–1948/49	South Australia
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class Matches 52 234 Runs scored 6,996 28,067 Batting average 99.94 95.14 100s/50s 29/13 117/69 Top score 334 452* Balls bowled 160 2,114 Wickets 2 36 Bowling average 36.00 37.97 5 wickets in innings 0 0 10 wickets in match 0 0 Best bowling 1/8 3/35 Catches/stumpings 32/– 131/1
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 4 December 2014

Sir Donald George Bradman AC (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time.^[3] His cricketing successes have been claimed by Shane Warne, among others, to make Bradman the "greatest sportsperson" in history.^[4][5][6] Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 is considered by some to be the greatest achievement by any sportsman in any major sport.^[7]

Although Bradman reportedly disliked fame, his iconic status made him one of Australia's best-known personalities and arguably the country's "first celebrity".^[8]

The story that the young Bradman practised alone with a cricket stump and a golf ball is part of Australian folklore.^[9] His meteoric rise from bush cricket to the Australian Test team took just over two years. Before his 22nd birthday, he had set many records for top scoring, some of which still stand, and became Australia's sporting idol at the height of the Great Depression. This hero status grew and continued through the Second World War.

During a 20-year playing career, Bradman consistently scored at a level that made him, in the words of former Australia captain Bill Woodfull, "worth three batsmen to Australia".^[10] A controversial set of tactics, known as Bodyline, was specially devised by the England team to curb his scoring. As a captain and administrator, Bradman was committed to attacking, entertaining cricket; he drew spectators in record numbers. He hated the constant adulation, however, and it affected how he dealt with others. The focus of attention on Bradman's individual performances strained relationships with some teammates, administrators and journalists, who thought him aloof and wary.^[11] Following an enforced hiatus due to the Second World War, he made a dramatic comeback, captaining an Australian team known as "The Invincibles" on a record-breaking unbeaten tour of England.

A complex and highly driven man, not given to close personal relationships,^[12] Bradman retained a pre-eminent position in the game by acting as an administrator, selector and writer for three decades following his retirement. Even after he became reclusive in his declining years, Bradman's opinion was highly sought, and his status as a national icon was still recognised. Almost fifty years after his retirement as a Test player, in 1997, Prime Minister John Howard called him the "greatest living Australian".^[13] Bradman's image has appeared on postage stamps and coins, and a museum dedicated to his life was opened while he was still living. On the centenary of his birth, 27 August 2008, the Royal Australian Mint issued a $5 commemorative gold coin with Bradman's image.^[14] In 2009, he was inducted posthumously as an inaugural member into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Early years

Donald George Bradman was the youngest son of George and Emily (née Whatman) Bradman, and was born on 27 August 1908 at Cootamundra, New South Wales (NSW).^[15] He had a brother, Victor, and three sisters – Islet, Lilian and Elizabeth May.^[15]

Bradman was of English heritage on both sides of his family. His grandfather Charles Andrew Bradman had left Withersfield, Suffolk, for Australia.^[16] In 1930, when he played at Cambridge during his first tour of England, 21-year-old Bradman took the opportunity to trace his forebears in the region.^[17] Bradman was also partly of Italian lineage; one of his great-grandfathers had been one of the first Italians to migrate to Australia in 1826.^[18]

Bradman's parents lived in the hamlet of Yeo Yeo, near Stockinbingal. His mother, Emily, gave birth to him at the Cootamundra home of Granny Scholz, a midwife, which is now the Bradman Birthplace Museum. Bradman's mother had hailed from Mittagong in the NSW Southern Highlands and in 1911, when Bradman was about two-and-a-half years old, his parents decided to relocate to Bowral, close to Emily's family and friends in Mittagong, as life at Yeo Yeo was proving difficult.^[15][19][20] Emily, who bowled left-arm spin, played in the women's intercolonial cricket competition between the main states in 1890s.^[21]

Bradman practised batting incessantly during his youth. He invented his own solo cricket game, using a cricket stump for a bat and a golf ball.^[22] A water tank, mounted on a curved brick stand, stood on a paved area behind the family home. When hit into the curved brick facing of the stand, the ball rebounded at high speed and varying angles—and Bradman would attempt to hit it again. This form of practice developed his timing and reactions to a high degree.^[23] In more formal cricket, Bradman hit his first century at the age of 12, with an undefeated 115^[24] playing for Bowral Public School against Mittagong High School.^[25]

Bush cricketer

During the 1920–21 season, Bradman acted as scorer for the local Bowral team, captained by his uncle George Whatman. In October 1920, he filled in when the team was one man short, scoring 37* and 29* on debut. During the season, Bradman's father took him to the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) to watch the fifth Ashes Test match. On that day, Bradman formed an ambition, telling his father: "I shall never be satisfied until I play on this ground."^[26] Bradman left school in 1922 and went to work for a local real estate agent who encouraged his sporting pursuits by giving him time off when necessary. He gave up cricket in favour of tennis for two years but resumed playing cricket in 1925–26.^[27]

Bradman became a regular selection for the Bowral team; several outstanding performances earned him the attention of Sydney newspapers. Competing on matting-over-concrete pitches, Bowral played other rural towns in the Berrima District competition. Against Wingello, a team that included the future Test bowler Bill O'Reilly, Bradman made 234.^[10][28] In the competition final against Moss Vale, which extended over five consecutive Saturdays, Bradman scored 320 not out.^[25]

During the following Australian winter (1926), the ageing Australian team lost The Ashes in England, and a number of Test players retired.^[29] The New South Wales Cricket Association began a hunt for new talent. Mindful of Bradman's big scores for Bowral, the association wrote to him, requesting his attendance at a practice session in Sydney. He was subsequently chosen for the "Country Week" tournaments at both cricket and tennis, to be played during separate weeks. Bradman's boss presented him with an ultimatum: he could have only one week away from work, and therefore had to choose between the two sports.^[27] He chose cricket.

Bradman's performances during Country Week resulted in an invitation to play grade cricket in Sydney for St George in the 1926–27 season. He scored 110 on his debut, making his first century on a turf pitch.^[30] On 1 January 1927, Bradman turned out for the NSW second team. For the remainder of the season, he travelled the 130 kilometres (81 mi) from Bowral to Sydney every Saturday to play for St George.^[28]

First-class debut

The next season continued the rapid rise of the "Boy from Bowral".^[25] Selected to replace the unfit Archie Jackson in the NSW team, Bradman made his first-class debut at the Adelaide Oval, aged 19. He secured the achievement of a hundred on debut, with an innings of 118 featuring what soon became his trademarks—fast footwork, calm confidence and rapid scoring.^[31] In the final match of the season, he made his first century at the SCG, against the Sheffield Shield champions Victoria. Despite his potential, Bradman was not chosen for the Australian second team to tour New Zealand.^[32]

Bradman decided that his chances for Test selection would be improved by moving to Sydney for the 1928–29 season, when England were to tour in defence of the Ashes. Initially, he continued working in real estate, but later took a promotions job with the sporting goods retailer Mick Simmons Ltd. In the first match of the Sheffield Shield season, he scored a century in each innings against Queensland. He followed this with scores of 87 and 132 not out against the England touring team, and was rewarded with selection for the first Test, to be played at Brisbane.^[27]

Test career

Playing in only his tenth first-class match, Bradman, nicknamed "Braddles" by his teammates,^[33] found his initial Test a harsh learning experience. Caught on a sticky wicket, Australia were all out for 66 in the second innings and lost by 675 runs (still a Test record).^[34] Following scores of 18 and 1, the selectors dropped Bradman to twelfth man for the Second Test. An injury to Bill Ponsford early in the match required Bradman to field as substitute while England amassed 636, following their 863 runs in the First Test. RS "Dick" Whitington wrote, "... he had scored only nineteen himself and these experiences appear to have provided him with food for thought".^[35] Recalled for the Third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Bradman scored 79 and 112 to become the youngest player to make a Test century,^[36] although the match was still lost. Another loss followed in the Fourth Test. Bradman reached 58 in the second innings and appeared set to guide the team to victory when he was run out.^[37] It was to be the only run out of his Test career. The losing margin was just twelve runs.^[38]

The improving Australians did manage to win the Fifth and final Test. Bradman top-scored with 123 in the first innings and was at the wicket in the second innings when his captain, Jack Ryder, hit the winning runs. Bradman completed the season with 1,690 first-class runs, averaging 93.88,^[39] and his first multiple century in a Sheffield Shield match, not out against Victoria, set a new ground record for the SCG.^[40] Bradman averaged 113.28 in 1929–30.^[39] In a trial match to select the team that would tour England, he was last man out in the first innings for 124. As his team followed on, the skipper Bill Woodfull asked Bradman to keep the pads on and open the second innings. By the end of play, he was 205 not out, on his way to 225. Against Queensland at the SCG, Bradman set a then world record for first-class cricket by scoring 452 not out;^[41] he made his runs in only 415 minutes.^[27] Not long after the feat, he recalled:

On 434...I had a curious intuition...I seemed to sense that the ball would be a short-pitched one on the leg-stump, and I could almost feel myself getting ready to make my shot before the ball was delivered. Sure enough, it pitched exactly where I had anticipated, and, hooking it to the square-leg boundary, I established the only record upon which I had set my heart.^[42]

Although he was an obvious selection to tour England, Bradman's unorthodox style raised doubts that he could succeed on the slower English pitches. Percy Fender wrote:^[43]

...he will always be in the category of the brilliant, if unsound, ones. Promise there is in Bradman in plenty, though watching him does not inspire one with any confidence that he desires to take the only course which will lead him to a fulfilment of that promise. He makes a mistake, then makes it again and again; he does not correct it, or look as if he were trying to do so. He seems to live for the exuberance of the moment.

The encomiums were not confined to his batting gifts; nor did the criticism extend to his character. "Australia has unearthed a champion", said former Australian Test great Clem Hill, "self-taught, with natural ability. But most important of all, with his heart in the right place."^[42] Selector Dick Jones weighed in with the observation that it was "good to watch him talking to an old player, listening attentively to everything that is said and then replying with a modest 'thank you'."^[42]

1930 tour of England

England were favourites to win the 1930 Ashes series,^[44] and if the Australians were to exceed expectations their young batsmen, Bradman and Jackson, needed to prosper. With his elegant batting technique, Jackson appeared the brighter prospect of the pair.^[45] However, Bradman began the tour with 236 at Worcester and went on to score 1,000 first-class runs by the end of May, the fifth player (and first Australian) to achieve this rare feat.^[46] In his first Test appearance in England, Bradman hit 131 in the second innings but England won the match. His batting reached a new level in the Second Test at Lord's where he scored 254 as Australia won and levelled the series. Later in life, Bradman rated this the best innings of his career as "practically without exception every ball went where it was intended to go".^[47] Wisden noted Bradman's fast footwork and how he hit the ball "all round the wicket with power and accuracy", as well as faultless concentration in keeping the ball on the ground.^[48]

In terms of runs scored, this performance was soon surpassed. In the Third Test, at Headingley, Bradman scored a century before lunch on 11 July, the first day of the Test match to equal the performances of Victor Trumper and Charlie Macartney.^[49] In the afternoon, Bradman added another century between lunch and tea, before finishing the day on 309 not out. He remains the only Test player to pass 300 in one day's play.^[50] His eventual score of 334 was a world-record, exceeding the previous mark of 325 by Andy Sandham.^[51] Bradman dominated the Australian innings; the second-highest tally was 77 by Alan Kippax. Businessman Arthur Whitelaw later presented Bradman with a cheque for £1,000 in appreciation of his achievement.^[52] The match ended in anti-climax as poor weather prevented a result, as it also did in the Fourth Test.

In the deciding Test at The Oval, England made 405. During an innings stretching over three days due to intermittent rain, Bradman made yet another multiple century, this time 232, which helped give Australia a big lead of 290 runs. In a crucial partnership with Jackson, Bradman battled through a difficult session when England fast bowler Harold Larwood bowled short on a pitch enlivened by the rain. Wisden gave this period of play only a passing mention:^[53]

On the Wednesday morning the ball flew about a good deal, both batsmen frequently being hit on the body...on more than one occasion each player cocked the ball up dangerously but always, as it happened, just wide of the fieldsmen.

A number of English players and commentators noted Bradman's discomfort in playing the short, rising delivery.^[10] The revelation came too late for this particular match, but was to have immense significance in the next Ashes series. Australia won the match by an innings and regained the Ashes.

The victory made an impact in Australia. With the economy sliding toward depression and unemployment rapidly rising, the country found solace in sporting triumph. The story of a self-taught 22-year-old from the bush who set a series of records against the old rival made Bradman a national hero.^[54] The statistics he achieved on the tour, especially in the Test matches, broke records for the day and some have stood the test of time. In all, Bradman scored 974 runs at an average of 139.14 during the Test series, with four centuries, including two double hundreds and a triple.^[55] As of 2022, no-one has matched or exceeded 974 runs or three double centuries in one Test series; the record of 974 runs exceeds the second-best performance by 69 runs and was achieved in two fewer innings.^[56] Bradman's first-class tally, 2,960 runs (at an average of 98.66 with 10 centuries), was another enduring record: the most by any overseas batsman on a tour of England.^[57]

On the tour, the dynamic nature of Bradman's batting contrasted sharply with his quiet, solitary off-field demeanour. He was described as aloof from his teammates and he did not offer to buy them a round of drinks, let alone share the money given to him by Whitelaw.^[12] He spent a lot of his free time alone, writing, as he had sold the rights to a book. On his return to Australia, Bradman was surprised by the intensity of his reception; he became a "reluctant hero".^[12] Mick Simmons wanted to cash in on their employee's newly won fame, asking Bradman to leave his teammates and attend official receptions they organised in Adelaide, Melbourne, Goulburn, his hometown of Bowral and Sydney, where he received a brand new custom-built Chevrolet. At each stop, Bradman received a level of adulation that "embarrassed" him. This focus on individual accomplishment, in a team game, "... permanently damaged relationships with his contemporaries".^[12]

Commenting on Australia's victory, the team's vice-captain Vic Richardson said, "...we could have played any team without Bradman, but we could not have played the blind school without Clarrie Grimmett".^[58] A modest Bradman can be heard in a 1930 recording saying, "I have always endeavoured to do my best for the side, and the few centuries that have come my way have been achieved in the hope of winning matches. My one idea when going into bat was to make runs for Australia."^[59]

Reluctant hero

In 1930–31, against the first West Indian side to visit Australia, Bradman's scoring was more sedate than in England—although he did make 223 in 297 minutes in the Third Test at Brisbane and 152 in 154 minutes in the following Test at Melbourne.^[60] However, he scored quickly in a very successful sequence of innings against South Africa in the Australian summer of 1931–32. For NSW against the tourists, he made 30, 135 and 219. In the Test matches, he scored 226 (277 minutes), 112 (155 minutes), 2 and 167 (183 minutes); his 299 not out in the Fourth Test, at Adelaide, set a new record for the highest score in a Test in Australia.^[61][62] Australia won nine of the ten Tests played over the two series.

At this point, Bradman had played fifteen Test matches since the beginning of 1930, scoring 2,227 runs at an average of 131.^[63] He had played eighteen innings, scoring ten centuries, six of which had extended beyond 200.^[63] His overall scoring rate was 42 runs per hour,^[64] with 856 (or 38.5% of his tally) scored in boundaries.^[63] Significantly, he had not hit a six,^[63] which typified Bradman's attitude: if he hit the ball along the ground, then it could not be caught. During this phase of his career, his youth and natural fitness allowed him to adopt a "machine-like" approach to batting. The South African fast bowler Sandy Bell described bowling to him as, "heart-breaking ... with his sort of cynical grin, which rather reminds one of the Sphinx ... he never seems to perspire".^[65]

Between these two seasons, Bradman seriously contemplated playing professional cricket in England with the Lancashire League club Accrington, a move that, according to the rules of the day, would have ended his Test career.^[27] A consortium of three Sydney businesses offered an alternative. They devised a two-year contract whereby Bradman wrote for Associated Newspapers, broadcast on Radio 2UE and promoted the menswear retailing chain FJ Palmer and Son.^[27] However, the contract increased Bradman's dependence on his public profile, making it more difficult to maintain the privacy that he ardently desired.^[65]

In a second-class fixture in November 1931, Bradman scored 100 off 22 balls in a three over spell in a match for Blackheath against Lithgow. Bradman's score of 256 included 14 sixes and 29 fours (notably hitting more sixes in this one innings than he hit in his entire first class career).^[66][67][68]

Bradman's chaotic wedding to Jessie Menzies in April 1932 epitomised these new and unwelcome intrusions into his private life. The church "was under siege all throughout the day... uninvited guests stood on chairs and pews to get a better view"; police erected barriers that were broken down and many of those invited could not get a seat.^[65] Just weeks later, Bradman joined a private team organised by Arthur Mailey to tour the United States and Canada.^[69] He travelled with his wife, and the couple treated the trip as a honeymoon. Playing 51 games in 75 days, Bradman scored 3,779 runs at 102.1, with eighteen centuries. Although the standard of play was not high, the effects of the amount of cricket Bradman had played in the three previous years, together with the strains of his celebrity status, began to show on his return home.^[70]

Bodyline

Within the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which administered English cricket at the time, few voices were more influential than "Plum" Warner's, who, when considering England's response to Bradman, wrote that it "must evolve a new type of bowler and develop fresh ideas and strange tactics to curb his almost uncanny skill". To that end, Warner orchestrated the appointment of Douglas Jardine as England captain in 1931, as a prelude to Jardine leading the 1932–33 tour to Australia, with Warner as team manager.^[72] Remembering that Bradman had struggled against bouncers during his 232 at The Oval in 1930, Jardine decided to combine traditional leg theory with short-pitched bowling to combat Bradman. He settled on the Nottinghamshire fast bowlers Harold Larwood and Bill Voce as the spearheads for his tactics. In support, the England selectors chose another three pacemen for the squad. The unusually high number of fast bowlers caused a lot of comment in both countries and roused Bradman's own suspicions.^[25]

Bradman had other problems to deal with at this time; among these were bouts of illness from an undiagnosed malaise which had begun during the tour of North America,^[73] and that the Australian Board of Control had initially refused permission for him to write a column for the Sydney Sun newspaper.^[73] Bradman, who had signed a two-year contract with the Sun, threatened to withdraw from cricket to honour his contract when the board denied him permission to write; eventually, the paper released Bradman from the contract, in a victory for the board.^[73] In three first-class games against England before the Tests, Bradman averaged just 17.16 in six innings.^[74] Jardine decided to give the new tactics a trial in only one game, a fixture against an Australian XI at Melbourne. In this match, Bradman faced the leg theory and later warned local administrators that trouble was brewing if it continued.^[75] He withdrew from the First Test at the SCG amid rumours that he had suffered a nervous breakdown. Despite his absence, England employed what were already becoming known as the Bodyline tactics against the Australian batsmen and won an ill-tempered match.^[27]

The public clamoured for the return of Bradman to defeat Bodyline: "he was the batsman who could conquer this cankerous bowling... 'Bradmania', amounting almost to religious fervour, demanded his return".^[76] Recovered from his indisposition, Bradman returned to the side in Kippax's position. A world record crowd of 63,993 at the MCG saw Bradman come to the crease on the first day of the Second Test with the score at 2/67. A standing ovation ensued that delayed play for several minutes.^[77] Bradman anticipated receiving a bouncer as his first ball and, as the bowler delivered, he moved across his stumps to play the hook shot. The ball failed to rise and Bradman dragged it onto his stumps; the first-ball duck was his first in a Test. The crowd fell into stunned silence as he walked off. However, Australia took a first innings lead in the match, and another record crowd on 2 January 1933 watched Bradman hit a counter-attacking second innings century. His unbeaten 103 (from 146 balls) in a team total of 191 helped set England a target of 251 to win. Bill O'Reilly and Bert Ironmonger bowled Australia to a series-levelling victory amid hopes that Bodyline was beaten.^[78]

The Third Test at the Adelaide Oval proved pivotal. There were angry crowd scenes after the Australian captain Bill Woodfull and wicket-keeper Bert Oldfield were hit by bouncers. An apologetic Warner entered the Australian dressing room and was rebuked by Woodfull. Woodfull's remarks (that "...there are two teams out there and only one of them is playing cricket") were leaked to the press, and Warner and others attributed this to Australian opening batsman Jack Fingleton; however, for many years (even after Fingleton's death) a bitter war of accusation passed between Fingleton and Bradman as to who was the real source of the leak. In a cable to the MCC, the Australian Board of Control repeated the allegation of poor sportsmanship directed at Warner by Woodfull.^[79]

With the support of the MCC, England continued with Bodyline despite Australian protests. The tourists won the last three Tests convincingly and regained the Ashes. Bradman caused controversy with his own tactics. Always seeking to score, and with the leg side packed with fielders, he often backed away and hit the ball into the vacant half of the outfield with unorthodox shots reminiscent of tennis or golf.^[80] This brought him 396 runs (at 56.57) for the series and plaudits for attempting to find a solution to Bodyline, although his series average was just 57% of his career mean. Fingleton was in no doubt that Bradman's game altered irrevocably as a consequence of Bodyline, writing:^[81]

Bodyline was specially prepared, nurtured for and expended on him and, in consequence, his technique underwent a change quicker than might have been the case with the passage of time. Bodyline plucked something vibrant from his art.

The constant glare of celebrity and the tribulations of the season forced Bradman to reappraise his life outside the game and to seek a career away from his cricketing fame.^[82] Harry Hodgetts, a South Australian delegate to the Board of Control, offered Bradman work as a stockbroker if he would relocate to Adelaide and captain the South Australia team (SA). Unknown to the public, the SA Cricket Association (SACA) instigated Hodgetts' approach and subsidised Bradman's wage.^[83] Although his wife was hesitant about moving, Bradman eventually agreed to the deal in February 1934.^[84]

Declining health and a brush with death

In his farewell season for NSW, Bradman averaged 132.44, his best yet.^[39] He was appointed vice-captain for the 1934 tour of England. However, "he was unwell for much of the summer, and reports in newspapers hinted that he was suffering from heart trouble".^[85] Although he again started with a double century at Worcester, his famed concentration soon deserted him. Wisden wrote:^[86]

...there were many occasions on which he was out to wild strokes. Indeed at one period he created the impression that, to some extent, he had lost control of himself and went in to bat with an almost complete disregard for anything in the shape of a defensive stroke.

At one stage, Bradman went thirteen first-class innings without a century, the longest such spell of his career,^[87] prompting suggestions that Bodyline had eroded his confidence and altered his technique.^[86] After three Tests, the series was locked up 1–1, and Bradman had scored 133 runs in five innings. The Australians travelled to Sheffield and played a warm-up game before the Fourth Test. Bradman started slowly and then, "...the old Bradman back with us, in the twinkling of an eye, almost".^[88] He went on to make 140, with the last 90 runs coming in just 45 minutes. On the opening day of the Fourth Test at Headingley (Leeds), England were out for 200, but Australia slumped to 3/39, losing the third wicket from the last ball of the day.^[89] Listed to bat at number five, Bradman would start his innings the next day.

That evening, Bradman declined an invitation to dinner from Neville Cardus, telling the journalist that he wanted an early night because the team needed him to make a double century the next day. Cardus pointed out that his previous innings on the ground was 334, and the law of averages was against another such score. Bradman told Cardus, "I don't believe in the law of averages".^[90] In the event, Bradman batted all of the second day and into the third, putting on a then world record partnership of 388 with Bill Ponsford.^[91][92] When he was finally out for 304 (473 balls, 43 fours and two sixes), Australia had a lead of 350 runs, but rain prevented them from forcing a victory. The effort of the lengthy innings stretched Bradman's reserves of energy, and he did not play again until the Fifth Test at The Oval, the match that would decide the Ashes.^[93]

In the first innings at The Oval, Bradman and Ponsford recorded an even more massive partnership, this time 451 runs. It had taken them less than a month to break the record they had set at Headingley; this new world record was to last 57 years.^[91] Bradman's share of the stand was 244 from 271 balls, and the Australian total of 701 set up victory by 562 runs. For the fourth time in five series, the Ashes changed hands.^[94] England would not recover them again until after Bradman's retirement.

Seemingly restored to full health, Bradman blazed two centuries in the last two games of the tour. However, when he returned to London to prepare for the trip home, he experienced severe abdominal pain. It took a doctor more than 24 hours to diagnose acute appendicitis and a surgeon operated immediately. Bradman lost a lot of blood during the four-hour procedure and peritonitis set in. Penicillin and sulphonamides were still experimental treatments at this time; peritonitis was usually a fatal condition.^[95] On 25 September, the hospital issued a statement that Bradman was struggling for his life and that blood donors were needed urgently.^[96]

"The effect of the announcement was little short of spectacular".^[95] The hospital could not deal with the number of donors and closed its switchboard in the face of the avalanche of telephone calls generated by the news. Journalists were asked by their editors to prepare obituaries. O'Reilly took a call from King George V's secretary asking that the King be kept informed of the situation.^[96] Bradman's wife started the month-long journey to London as soon as she received the news. En route, she heard a rumour that her husband had died.^[95] A telephone call clarified the situation and by the time she reached London, Bradman had begun a slow recovery. He followed medical advice to convalesce, taking several months to return to Australia and missing the 1934–35 Australian season.^[27]

Internal politics and the Test captaincy

There was off-field intrigue in Australian cricket during the antipodean winter of 1935. Australia, scheduled to make a tour of South Africa at the end of the year, needed to replace the retired Woodfull as captain. The Board of Control wanted Bradman to lead the team, yet, on 8 August, the board announced his withdrawal from the team due to a lack of fitness. Surprisingly, in the light of this announcement, Bradman led the South Australian team in a full programme of matches that season.^[97]

The captaincy was given to Vic Richardson, Bradman's predecessor as South Australian captain.^[98] Cricket author Chris Harte's analysis of the situation is that a prior (unspecified) commercial agreement forced Bradman to remain in Australia.^[99] Harte attributed an ulterior motive to his relocation: the off-field behaviour of Richardson and other South Australian players had displeased the SACA, which was looking for new leadership. To help improve discipline, Bradman became a committeeman of the SACA, and a selector of the South Australian and Australian teams.^[100] He took his adopted state to its first Sheffield Shield title for ten years, Bradman weighing in with personal contributions of 233 against Queensland and 357 against Victoria. He finished the season with 369 (in 233 minutes), a South Australian record, made against Tasmania. The bowler who dismissed him, Reginald Townley, would later become leader of the Tasmanian Liberal Party.^[97]

Australia defeated South Africa 4–0 and senior players such as O'Reilly were pointed in their comments about the enjoyment of playing under Richardson's captaincy.^[101] A group of players who were openly hostile toward Bradman formed during the tour. For some, the prospect of playing under Bradman was daunting, as was the knowledge that he would additionally be sitting in judgement of their abilities in his role as a selector.^[102]

To start the new season, the Test side played a "Rest of Australia" team, captained by Bradman, at Sydney in early October 1936. The Test XI suffered a big defeat, due to Bradman's 212 and a haul of 12 wickets taken by leg-spinner Frank Ward.^[103] Bradman let the members of the Test team know that despite their recent success, the team still required improvement.^[102] Shortly afterwards, his first child was born on 28 October, but died the next day. He took time out of cricket for two weeks and on his return made 192 in three hours against Victoria in the last match before the beginning of the Ashes series.

The Test selectors made five changes to the team who had played in the previous Test match. Significantly, Australia's most successful bowler, Clarrie Grimmett, was replaced by Ward, one of four players making their debut. Bradman's role in Grimmett's omission from the team was controversial and it became a theme that dogged Bradman as Grimmett continued to be prolific in domestic cricket while his successors were ineffective—he was regarded as having finished the veteran bowler's Test career in a political purge.^[104]

Australia fell to successive defeats in the opening two Tests, Bradman making two ducks in his four innings,^[105][106] and it seemed that the captaincy was affecting his form.^[107] The selectors made another four changes to the team for the Third Test at Melbourne.

Bradman won the toss on New Year's Day 1937, but again failed with the bat, scoring just 13. The Australians could not take advantage of a pitch that favoured batting, and finished the day at 6/181. On the second day, rain dramatically altered the course of the game. With the sun drying the pitch (in those days, covers could not be used during matches) Bradman declared to get England in to bat while the pitch was "sticky"; England also declared to get Australia back in, conceding a lead of 124. Bradman countered by reversing his batting order to protect his run-makers while conditions improved. The ploy worked and Bradman went in at number seven. In an innings spread over three days, he battled influenza while scoring 270 off 375 balls, sharing a record partnership of 346 with Jack Fingleton,^[108] and Australia went on to victory. In 2001, Wisden rated this performance as the best Test match innings of all time.^[109]

The next Test, at the Adelaide Oval, was fairly even until Bradman played another patient second innings, making 212 from 395 balls. Australia levelled the series when the erratic^[110] left-arm spinner "Chuck" Fleetwood-Smith bowled Australia to victory. In the series-deciding Fifth Test, Bradman returned to a more aggressive style in top-scoring with 169 (off 191 balls) in Australia's 604 and Australia won by an innings.^[111] Australia's achievement of winning a Test series after outright losses in the first two matches has never been repeated in Test cricket.^[112]

End of an era

During the 1938 tour of England, Bradman played the most consistent cricket of his career.^[113] He needed to score heavily as England had a strengthened batting line-up, while the Australian bowling was over-reliant on O'Reilly.^[113] Grimmett was overlooked, but Jack Fingleton made the team, so the clique of anti-Bradman players remained.^[12] Playing 26 innings on tour, Bradman recorded 13 centuries (a new Australian record) and again made 1,000 first-class runs before the end of May, becoming the only player to do so twice.^[114] In scoring 2,429 runs, Bradman achieved the highest average ever recorded in an English season: 115.66.^[113]

In the First Test, England amassed a big first innings score and looked likely to win, but Stan McCabe made 232 for Australia, a performance Bradman rated as the best he had ever seen. With Australia forced to follow-on, Bradman fought hard to ensure McCabe's effort was not in vain, and he secured the draw with 144 not out.^[115] It was the slowest Test hundred of his career and he played a similar innings of 102 not out in the next Test as Australia struggled to another draw.^[116] Rain completely washed out the Third Test at Old Trafford.^[117]

Australia's opportunity came at Headingley, a Test described by Bradman as the best he ever played in.^[118] England batted first and made 223. During the Australian innings, Bradman backed himself by opting to bat on in poor light conditions, reasoning that Australia could score more runs in bad light on a good pitch than on a rain affected pitch in good light, when he had the option to go off.^[119] He scored 103 out of a total of 242 and the gamble paid off, as it meant there was sufficient time to push for victory when an England collapse left them a target of only 107 to win. Australia slumped to 4/61, with Bradman out for 16. An approaching storm threatened to wash the game out, but the poor weather held off and Australia managed to secure the win, a victory that retained the Ashes.^[119] For the only time in his life, the tension of the occasion got to Bradman and he could not watch the closing stages of play, a reflection of the pressure that he felt all tour: he described the captaincy as "exhausting" and said he "found it difficult to keep going".^[118]

The euphoria of securing the Ashes preceded Australia's heaviest defeat. At The Oval, England amassed a world record of 7/903 and their opening batsman Len Hutton scored an individual world record, by making 364.^[120][121] In an attempt to relieve the burden on his bowlers, Bradman took a rare turn at bowling. During his third over, he fractured his ankle and teammates carried him from the ground.^[120] With Bradman injured and Fingleton unable to bat because of a leg muscle strain,^[120][122] Australia were thrashed by an innings and 579 runs, which remains the largest margin in Test cricket history.^[123] Unfit to complete the tour, Bradman left the team in the hands of vice-captain Stan McCabe. At this point, Bradman felt that the burden of captaincy would prevent him from touring England again, although he did not make his doubts public.^[118]

Despite the pressure of captaincy, Bradman's batting form remained supreme. An experienced, mature player now commonly called "The Don" had replaced the blitzing style of his early days as the "Boy from Bowral".^[124] In 1938–39, he led South Australia to the Sheffield Shield and made a century in six consecutive innings to equal CB Fry's world record.^[125] Bradman totalled 21 first-class centuries in 34 innings, from the beginning of the 1938 tour of England (including preliminary games in Australia) until early 1939.

The next season, Bradman made an abortive bid to join the Victoria state side. The Melbourne Cricket Club advertised the position of club secretary and he was led to believe that if he applied, he would get the job.^[126] The position, which had been held by Hugh Trumble until his death in August 1938, was one of the most prestigious jobs in Australian cricket. The annual salary of £1,000 would make Bradman financially secure while allowing him to retain a connection with the game.^[127] On 18 January 1939, the club's committee, on the casting vote of the chairman, chose former Test batsman Vernon Ransford over Bradman.^[127][128]

In August 1939, Bradman won the South Australian squash championships, beating Australian Davis Cup tennis player Don Turnbull in the final. Turnbull won the first two games in the best-of-five game contest and led 8–3 in the third game with five match points, but Bradman won the game and the fourth. Turnbull led 8–5 in the fifth game but Bradman went on to win.^[129]

The 1939–40 season was Bradman's most productive ever for SA: 1,448 runs at an average of 144.8.^[39] He made three double centuries, including 251 not out against NSW, the innings that he rated the best he ever played in the Sheffield Shield, as he tamed Bill O'Reilly at the height of his form.^[130] However, it was the end of an era. The outbreak of World War II led to the indefinite postponement of all cricket tours, and the suspension of the Sheffield Shield competition.^[131]

Troubled war years

Bradman joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) on 28 June 1940 and was passed fit for air crew duty.^[132] The RAAF had more recruits than it could equip and train and Bradman spent four months in Adelaide before the Governor-General of Australia, Lord Gowrie, persuaded Bradman to transfer to the army, a move that was criticised as a safer option for him.^[12] Given the rank of lieutenant, he was posted to the Army School of Physical Training at Frankston, Victoria, to act as a divisional supervisor of physical training. The exertion of the job aggravated his chronic muscular problems, diagnosed as fibrositis. Surprisingly, in light of his batting prowess, a routine army test revealed that Bradman had poor eyesight.^[133]

Invalided out of service in June 1941, Bradman spent months recuperating, unable even to shave himself or comb his hair due to the extent of the muscular pain he suffered. He resumed stockbroking during 1942. In his biography of Bradman, Charles Williams expounded the theory that the physical problems were psychosomatic, induced by stress and possibly depression; Bradman read the book's manuscript and did not disagree.^[134] Had any cricket been played at this time, he would not have been available. Although he found some relief in 1945 when referred to the Melbourne masseur Ern Saunders, Bradman permanently lost the feeling in the thumb and index finger of his (dominant) right hand.^[135]

In June 1945, Bradman faced a financial crisis when the firm of Harry Hodgetts collapsed due to fraud and embezzlement.^[136] Bradman moved quickly to set up his own business, utilising Hodgetts' client list and his old office in Grenfell Street, Adelaide. The fallout led to a prison term for Hodgetts, and left a stigma attached to Bradman's name in the city's business community for many years.^[137]

However, the SA Cricket Association had no hesitation in appointing Bradman as their delegate to the Board of Control in place of Hodgetts. Now working alongside some of the men he had battled in the 1930s, Bradman quickly became a leading light in the administration of the game. With the resumption of international cricket, he was once more appointed a Test selector, and played a major role in planning for post-war cricket.^[138]

"The ghost of a once-great cricketer"

In 1945–46, Bradman suffered regular bouts of fibrositis while coming to terms with increased administrative duties and the establishment of his business.^[139] He played for South Australia in two matches to help with the re-establishment of first-class cricket and later described his batting as "painstaking".^[140] Batting against the Australian Services cricket team, Bradman scored 112 in less than two hours, yet Dick Whitington (playing for the Services) wrote, "I have seen today the ghost of a once-great cricketer".^[141][142] Bradman declined a tour of New Zealand and spent the winter of 1946 wondering whether he had played his last match. "With the English team due to arrive for the 1946–47 Ashes series, the media and the public were anxious to know if Bradman would lead Australia."^[143] His doctor recommended against a return to the game.^[144] Encouraged by his wife, Bradman agreed to play in lead-up fixtures to the Test series.^[145] After hitting two centuries, Bradman made himself available for the First Test at The Gabba.

Controversy emerged on the first day of the First Test at Brisbane. After compiling an uneasy 28 runs, Bradman hit a ball to the gully fieldsman, Jack Ikin. "An appeal for a catch was denied in the umpire's contentious ruling that it was a bump ball".^[146] At the end of the over, England captain Wally Hammond spoke with Bradman and criticised him for not "walking"; "from then on the series was a cricketing war just when most people desired peace", Whitington wrote.^[147] Bradman regained his finest pre-war form in making 187, followed by 234 during the Second Test at Sydney (Sid Barnes also scored 234 during the innings, many in a still-standing record 405-run 5th-wicket partnership with Bradman. Barnes later recalled that he purposely got out on 234 because "it wouldn't be right for someone to make more runs than Bradman"). Australia won both matches by an innings. Jack Fingleton speculated that had the decision at Brisbane gone against him, Bradman would have retired, such were his fitness problems.^[148] In the remainder of the series, Bradman made three half-centuries in six innings, but he was unable to make another century; nevertheless, his team won handsomely, scoring 3–0. He was the leading batsman on either side, with an average of 97.14. Nearly 850,000 spectators watched the Tests, which helped lift public spirits after the war.^[149]

Century of centuries and "The Invincibles"

India made its first tour of Australia in the 1947–48 season. On 15 November, Bradman made 172 against them for an Australian XI at Sydney, his 100th first-class century.^[150] The first non-Englishman to achieve the milestone, Bradman remains the only Australian to have done so.^[151] In five Tests, he scored 715 runs (at 178.75 average). His last double century (201) came at Adelaide, and he scored a century in each innings of the Melbourne Test.^[152] On the eve of the Fifth Test, he announced that the match would be his last in Australia, although he would tour England as a farewell.^[153]

Australia had assembled one of the great teams of cricket history.^[154] Bradman made it known that he wanted to go through the tour unbeaten,^[64] a feat never before accomplished.^[155] English spectators were drawn to the matches knowing that it would be their last opportunity to see Bradman in action. RC Robertson-Glasgow observed of Bradman that:^[39]

Next to Mr. Winston Churchill, he was the most celebrated man in England during the summer of 1948. His appearances throughout the country were like one continuous farewell matinée. At last his batting showed human fallibility. Often, especially at the start of the innings, he played where the ball wasn't, and spectators rubbed their eyes.

Despite his waning powers, Bradman compiled 11 centuries on the tour, amassing 2,428 runs (average 89.92).^[39] His highest score of the tour (187) came against Essex, when Australia compiled a world record of 721 runs in a day. In the Tests, he scored a century at Trent Bridge, but the performance most like his pre-war exploits came in the Fourth Test at Headingley. England declared on the last morning of the game, setting Australia a world record 404 runs to win in only 345 minutes on a heavily worn pitch. In partnership with Arthur Morris (182), Bradman reeled off 173 not out and the match was won with 15 minutes to spare. The journalist Ray Robinson called the victory "the 'finest ever' in its conquest of seemingly insuperable odds".^[156]

In the final Test at The Oval, Bradman walked out to bat in Australia's first innings. He received a standing ovation from the crowd and three cheers from the opposition.^[157] His Test batting average stood at 101.39.^[158] Facing the wrist-spin of Eric Hollies,^[159] Bradman pushed forward to the second ball that he faced, was deceived by a googly, and was bowled between bat and pad for a duck.^[160] An England batting collapse resulted in an innings defeat, denying Bradman the opportunity to bat again and so his career average finished at 99.94;^{[157][161][162]} if he had scored just four runs in his last innings, it would have been 100. A story developed over the years that claimed Bradman missed the ball because of tears in his eyes,^[162] a claim Bradman denied for the rest of his life.^[163]

The Australian team won the Ashes 4–0, completed the tour unbeaten, and entered history as "The Invincibles".^[164] Just as Bradman's legend grew, rather than diminished, over the years, so too has the reputation of the 1948 team. For Bradman, it was the most personally fulfilling period of his playing days, as the divisiveness of the 1930s had passed. He wrote:^[165]

Knowing the personnel, I was confident that here at last was the great opportunity which I had longed for. A team of cricketers whose respect and loyalty were unquestioned, who would regard me in a fatherly sense and listen to my advice, follow my guidance and not question my handling of affairs...there are no longer any fears that they will query the wisdom of what you do. The result is a sense of freedom to give full reign to your own creative ability and personal judgment.

With Bradman now retired from professional cricket, RC Robertson-Glasgow wrote of the English reaction "... a miracle has been removed from among us. So must ancient Italy have felt when she heard of the death of Hannibal".^[39]

Statistical summary

Test match performance

		Batting[167]				Bowling[168]
Opposition	Matches	Runs	Average	High Score	100 / 50	Runs	Wickets	Average	Best (Inns)
England	37	5,028	89.78	334	19/12	51	1	51.00	1/23
India	5	715	178.75	201	4/1	4	0	–	–
South Africa	5	806	201.50	299*	4/0	2	0	–	–
West Indies	5	447	74.50	223	2/0	15	1	15.00	1/8
Overall	52	6,996	99.94	334	29/13	72	2	36.00	1/8

First-class performance