End of the 'little fella's' magnificent innings

Sir Donald Bradman, who was without doubt the greatest cricketer the world has ever seen or will ever see, passed away earlier this week aged 92. As you can imagine cricket lovers worldwide mourned his death and all Australians were crestfallen.

A Test average of 99.94 accurately reflected his brilliance as did his record of 10 Test double hundreds and 2 triple centuries. He was more than just a champion batsman, he was a champion bloke as well. He was never one to dwell on “the old days” and was a particularly progressive thinker.

I was one of the fortunate few who had the opportunity to meet the great man – not just once but on a number of occasions. When I began my career playing Sheffield Shield cricket for South Australia, Sir Donald was an active watcher of the game from the committee room at Adelaide Oval.

He had previously served the South Australian Cricket Association with distinction for many years as a player and also administrator and kept close tabs on any new developments. He took a liking to the way I played and often would send the odd message down to the change room for me. He was always so approachable. He even got to the stage of writing down his instructions on a scrap of paper and hand delivering them. How lucky was I to experience this interaction with a legend!

One of the things that struck me about “the Don” was his eagerness to discuss the disparity between his playing days and modern day cricket. He freely admitted that the game has improved considerably over the years and that he would not have scored the runs he did had he played in the modern era. He cited the professionalism, fitness and fielding standards as the big differences.

Why was he so good?

His hand / eye co-ordination was freakish and therefore his ability to pick up the length of the ball so quickly separated him from the rest. By possessing these rare talents, he was able to stand very still in his stance and play the ball extremely late. He was particularly severe on the pull shot and the cut. During the infamous “Bodyline” series, where targeting the body with a packed leg side field was the order of the day, he was restricted for the first time in his career. Instead of averaging his normal 100 per innings he completed that series with an average of 56.57. The English considered this a huge triumph but had to stoop to some pretty low tactics to succeed.

The great man served the game admirably as a captain, player, selector and administrator and we truly have lost a legend and a hell of a nice guy.

He ignited the game of cricket during his time.

He should also have ignited the flame at the Sydney Olympics.