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And…the ‘Don’ remains unbeaten

Players and officials profuse in their tribute to the greatest batsman

— Photo: AFP

PROUD MOMENT: Australian schoolgirls Ellie Connell (left) and Kayla Cole, who share their birthday with Sir Donald Bradman, cut a commemorative cake at the Bradman Oval on Wednesday to mark the birth centenary of their greatest sporting hero in his hometown of Bowral.

SYDNEY: Australians on Wednesday marked the centenary of their greatest sporting hero, cricketer Don Bradman, by celebrating the fact his unbeaten record is still untouchable 60 years after he quit the sport.

Bradman, who died in 2001 aged 92, played his last match in England in 1948 and retired with a yet-to-be topped Test batting average of 99.94.

Australian media used the occasion to revisit the legend of the “Boy from Bowral” whose run-scoring feats lifted the hopes of the country during the Depression and inspired generations of athletes to come.

Newspapers splashed images of the small-statured batsman across their pages while television bulletins re-broadcast rare snippets from interviews with “The Don”, who loathed his celebrity.

In Bradman’s boyhood home of Bowral, a small town south of Sydney, scores of children formed a massive 100 on the cricket oval on which he first played, and sang “Happy Birthday.”

Bradman’s old school dedicated the school’s bell post to the cricket legend.

A commemorative A$5 coin was also struck on Wednesday to mark the centenary.

Tributes

Australian captain Ricky Ponting led tributes to the global cricketing hero.

“That Bradman made a century on average every time he batted is remarkable in itself, but to realise his batting average is virtually twice as high as anyone who played Test cricket for any length of time shows why he is one of sport’s great stories,” Ponting wrote in The Australian.

Ponting said sporting records were made to be broken, with the Beijing Olympics no exception with the breathtaking feats of swimmer Michael Phelps and runner Usain Bolt. But Bradman’s was an “unassailable” record, he said.

“Of the 2,519 batsmen who have taken the crease in 131 years of Test cricket, Bradman stands alone and untouched,” he said. “I am not aware of any other sport which has one competitor so far above any other performer.”

“No name in cricket conjures up such widespread awe and respect as that of Sir Donald Bradman,” said International Cricket Council president David Morgan. “Soccer has Pele and cricket has Bradman.”

Massive figure

Bradman is a massive figure in Australian culture. Former prime minister Bob Hawke wrote of having two gods, his father and Bradman.

The postal address for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in every capital city is his average, PO Box 9994.

The centenary was the first order of business in Question Time at the national parliament on Wednesday, with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd praising the remarkable batting average of the man.

“No one has even come close to this, I suspect no one else ever will,” Rudd said.

“He soon became not just Donald Bradman but ’The Don’,” Rudd said. “In the tough years of the Depression, he was a hero at home and a great source of national pride in difficult times.”

Superman

Mike Rann, the premier of South Australia state, where Bradman lived in the latter part of his life, described the cricketer as Australia’s “Superman.”

“He is our Clark Kent, the mild-mannered ordinary man who contains and conceals immeasurable powers, is always there when needed and always delivers the goods but with nobility of purpose,” he said.

Former ‘Invincible’ Arthur Morris, 86, who shared the crease with Bradman when the skipper made his final appearance in 1948, described him as “something to watch. Not only a great batsman but a marvellous fieldsman too.”

But on this final occasion, Bradman made no score. Had he scored just four runs, his batting average would have climbed to 100.

Describing the moment, Morris told ABC radio: “He just did what he did. When he got bowled, he just walked, put the bat under his arms and strode out, just as if he’d got 200 or 300. He was always wonderful that way.” — Agencies

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