Top 10 lesser known facts about Sir Don Bradman.

People often remember him as the greatest player ever to play Cricket and they often describe him as  “God’s own gift to cricket”. He averaged 99.94 in test cricket,he is none other than Sir Don Bradman. We know his cricketing feats but here are top 10 lesser known facts about Sir Bradman:

1. Preparation right from childhood

Sir Bradman developed his batting skills at a very young age and that was the reason he was such a wonderful batsman. He also developed reflexes and hand-eye coordination from childhood itself.

2. Not just cricket!

He was fascinated by other sports as well such as golf,tennis,billiards etc. He was also selected to play for the local level tennis tournaments and competitions.

3. Love for music

  

He was very fond and had a great ear to music. He always enjoyed listening songs and even composing some tunes with the help of his piano which he loved.

4. Love for Melbourne (MCG)

Out of his 29 centuries in Test cricket, 9 centuries were scored at Melbourne.

The picture above is his statue at the MCG because of his memorable innings in this ground.

5. No Nervous Nineties Here!

Sir  Bradman was never dismissed in 90s.Whenever he entered the 90s he completed his century.

6. Introduction of Bodyline-The method to stop him.

England in 1932-33 series developed a new approach towards their bowling-Leg theory short pitch bowling named Bodyline. It is by far the most criticized tactics applied in the cricketing world.

7. The last innings

He required only 4 runs to average 100 runs in test cricket and it was his last innings. He was dismissed for a duck in that innings by Eric Hollies. After his dismissal his words were “Fancy doing that”.

8. Contributing towards cricket

After his retirement he was elected as the president of Australian Cricket Board making him the first player to be the president of the board.

9. His approach

He believed himself to be a backfoot player most of the time.

10. A worldwide fan following

He was not only famous in his country Australia but all over the world as he was a huge star and a great human being. When Nelson Mandela toured Australia the first question of his to a local was “Is Sir Bradman alive?”.

11. His average in 1998.

When Sachin Tendulkar met Sir Don Bradman in 1998,Sachin asked him what would be his average now (in 1998) to which Sir responded “About 70 considering current fielding positions and rules.”