Sir Don Bradman

1) Sir Don Bradman did not have formal coaching. He invented his own solo cricket game with cricket stump and golf ball and practiced against curved brick water stand wall
2) According to former Australian cricketer Bill Woodfull, Bradman was ‘Worth Three Batsman to Australia,’ due to his consistency at highest level
3) Sir Don was born at a nursing home at 89 Adams Street, Cootamundra, 320km south-west of Sydney, on August 27th, 1908
4) He was the youngest of five children to George and Emily Bradman, following sisters Lilian, Islet and May, and brother Victor
5) The Bradman surname originated when his grandfather was christened as Bradman instead of the more commonly used Bradnam
6) Don Bradman's favourite subject in school was mathematics
7) Bradman composed and recorded a song called 'Every Day is a Rainbow Day for Me' in 1930. As a pianist he recorded two songs titled ''An Old Fashioned Lockett' and 'Our Bungalow of Dreams'
8) During his last innings in his career, he needed just 4 runs to attain a batting average of 100. He was dismissed for a duck. His words after his dismissal were 'Fancy doing that!'
9) Bradman has set a high standard of excellence as a batsman with an average of 99.94 in 52 tests
10) Australian Broadcasting Corporation has adopted his batting averages of 99.94, as their GPO Box Number. The GPO Box is 9994.
11) He scored his first century, when playing for his school Bowral Public School against Mittagong High School. He scored 115 not out in a total of 156 runs
12) As 12 years old Bradman had a chance to play for local Bowral senior team, captained by his uncle, George Whatman. He remained not out scoring 37 and 29
13) In 1948, Kathiawar, a regional team, abandoned an ongoing match against Maharashtra when the latter's batsman Bhausahibe Nimbalkar, was batting on 443. This is because they believed it would not be courteous for the batsmen to overtake Bradman's first-class individual record of 452 runs
14) 'Is Don Bradman still alive?', is what were among the first words Nelson Mandela used after he was released from prison after 27 years
15) On October 5, 1926, at the age of 18, Bradman was invited to attend NSW state training. He also agreed to play Sydney grade cricket for St. George
16) In 1927, Bradman was selected to play Sheffield Shield for NSW. In his first game of first class cricket on December 16, 1927, he scored 118 against South Australia on the Adelaide Oval
17) Don bradman became the 20th Australian to score a century on first class debut
18) At the age of 20, he was selected in the Test team to play in the First Test against England in Brisbane
19) He scored 18 and one and was made 12th man for the Second Test at the SCG _ the only time he was dropped from the Test XI in a 20 year career
20) In only his fourth Test innings, he scored 112 in the Third Test against England at the MCG
21) On the 1930 tour he began with 236 against Worcester, making him the youngest overseas player to score a double century in England
22) In the Test matches Bradman scored 8, 131, 254, 1, 334, 14 and 232 - a total of 974 runs at an amazing average of 139.14
23) When Bradman scored 309 not out in a single days play in the third test at Leeds, he became the only test player in the world to do so. His final score of 334 was a world record then
24) Bradman’s tally of 974 runs at an average of 139.14 in the 1930 Ashes Series is a record till date. He also scored three double centuries in the series
25) Don Bradman became a national hero after his heroics in the 1930 Ashes series. He was accorded warm reception in Adelaide, Melbourne, Goulburn, Bowral and Sydney. He received brand new custom built Chevrolet
26) To compensate Bradman from turning professional, He was offered two years contract to write for Associate Newspaper, Radio broadcast on 2UE and for promotion of FJ Palmer and Son menswear. As a professional cricketer, he will not be eligible to play test cricket
27) On April 1932, he married his childhood friend Jessie Menzies at St. Paul’s Church, Burwood
28) Bradman was made the vice captain for the tour of 1934 England series. During the tour, he played 13 first class innings without scoring a century, a rare lean patch for his standard
29) In the fifth test match of the 1934 series, Bradman and Ponsford were associated in a world record partnership of 451 runs, which lasted for over 57 years
30) Bradman skipped the 1935 tour of South Africa and led the South Australian team to its first ‘Sheffield Shield’ title
31) In October 1936 before the Ashes series, Bradman took time out of cricket for two weeks after the death of his first child a day after its birth
32) In the 1938 tour of England, Bradman scored 13 centuries in 26 innings for a new Australian record. He also completed 1000 runs before May to become the only player to do so twice
33) In December 1931 Bradman scored 100 runs in 3 overs at Blackheath in the Blue Mountains. Bradman made 256 comprising 14 sixes and 29 fours
34) Bradman played only one series against South Africa, finishing with 806 runs at an average of 201.50
35) On his 90th birthday he hosted a meeting with Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne. He was so impressed with Sachin’s batting; that he never missed a innings of his