Sir Donald Bradman | Australia Cricket | Cricket Players and Officials | ESPN Cricinfo
August 27, 1908
Small town, big boy
Donald George Bradman is born in the small country town of Cootamundra in New South Wales
1920
High school, high score
Scores his first century, aged 12, for the Bowral Intermediate High School, but gets in trouble from the headmaster for leaving a bat behind
1925
O'Reilly gets a taste of the future
Starts playing regularly for Bowral and collects 234 against Wingello, a team which includes Bill O'Reilly, the future Australian legspinning great. Later in the summer he picks up 300 against Moss Vale, finishing the season with 1318 runs at 101.3
« Prev Showing 2 of 11 Next »
1930
Raining runs - Part I
A never-to-be-repeated flood of runs on his first tour to England. By the end of the five Tests he has 974, including a world record 334 at Headingley, 254 at Lord's, 232 at The Oval and 131 at Trent Bridge . Beginning with 236 at Worcester, he has 1000 runs by the end of May and finishes with 2690, the most by any Australian batsman in a season
1931
Officially the best
Named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year for his performances in England the previous summer. In August an offer arrives to play in the Lancashire League for Accrington, which is increased to £600 per season. He rejects it, signing a combined newspaper-radio contract to secure his welfare during the harsh economic times
1931-32
Raining runs - Part II
In his most successful home Test season, he scores 226, 112, 2, 167 and 299* against South Africa, but does not bat in the final Test because of a twisted ankle. In the same summer he thrashes 256 in a second-class fixture against a team from Lithgow, including taking 100 runs in three eight-ball overs
« Prev Showing 3 of 11 Next »
April 30, 1932
Finally, a match for Bradman
Marries Jessie Menzies in Sydney and she accompanies him on a tour of the United States and Canada with a team arranged by Arthur Mailey, the former Australia legspinner. Bradman meets Babe Ruth at a Yankees game
1932-33
It's just not cricket
Jardine's Bodyline almost halves Bradman's average - he managed 56.57 per innings - and is a success as England win the series 4-1. Bradman misses the first Test with illness and falls first ball on his return in Melbourne, before raising his only century, 103 not out, in the second innings
1934
More records, and an illness
In February he moves from New South Wales to South Australia, where he joins the stockbroking firm of Harry Hodgett's, a Board of Control board member. Chosen as vice-captain under Bill Woodfull for the 1934 England tour, Bradman repeats his Leeds triple-century of four years earlier, producing 304 , and earns a world-record partnership for the second wicket - Ponsford 226; Bradman 244 - at The Oval . Shortly before catching the boat home, he is diagnosed with appendicitis and is operated on immediately. Making a slow recovery, he misses the entire 1934-35 summer in Australia
« Prev Showing 4 of 11 Next »
1935-36
Sheffield glory
In his first season at South Australia he captains the undefeated team to the Sheffield Shield. There were two triple-centuries that summer, 357 against Victoria , and 369 against Tasmania
1936-37
Captain, selector, winner
After becoming a national selector, Bradman experiences his first Test series as captain and loses the first two games against England. Scores of 270, 212 and 169 help win the next three fixtures - and the series. The sequence also ends the calls for Victor Richardson to become the country's leader
1938
On the wrong side of a record
Finally there are some world records against Bradman. At The Oval Len Hutton posts 364 as England reach 903 for 7 in the final Test. In a rare bowling appearance, Bradman slips in a foothole and breaks a bone in his ankle, ending his tour. The four-game series is drawn 1-1, but Australia retain the Ashes
« Prev Showing 5 of 11 Next »
1938-39
Squash? Win it, leave it
Playing for South Australia, he equals CB Fry's world record for six successive first-class centuries. Showing his many skills, he wins the South Australian squash championship and never plays another competitive game
1939-40
War days
Enlists with the RAAF as a member of the air crew, but due to his age heads to the army instead. While there, he is diagnosed with fibrositis and the condition becomes so bad he can't lift his right arm. He recovers slowly after a long period of rest. Three years after his first son dies shortly after birth, his second son John arrives in 1939. Daughter Shirley comes two years later
1945-46
End of a great career?
Suffers another bout of fibrositis and does not expect to play cricket again
« Prev Showing 6 of 11 Next »
1946-47
Doctors be damned
Defying the opinions of his doctors, Bradman returns to action and convinces himself he is ready for the Test series against England. The decision is justified in the first game with 187 in Brisbane, which he follows with 234 in the next match in Sydney . His partnership of 405 with Sid Barnes is a world record for the fifth wicket
1947-48
A hundred times a hundred
Brings up his 100th first-class century against the touring Indians, reaching 172 at the SCG . By the end of the Test series he has 204 hundreds. Before the final match he signals his intent to retire after the 1948 tour
1948
Invincible at 40
Turning 40 during the trip, he leads the Invincibles to an undefeated tour of England and takes 173 not out in the world-record chase in the fourth Test in Leeds. In the next match at The Oval his fourth-ball duck leaves him with an average of 99.94
« Prev Showing 7 of 11 Next »
January 1, 1949
The announcement comes that he will be knighted for his services to cricket
September 13, 1960
Giving back
Elected chairman of the Australian Board of Control and holds the position for one three-year term, repeating the assignment in September 1969. He is part of the board from September 1945 to 1979
February 1963
Relief for bowlers
Bats for the final time in a match, entering at No. 5 and making 4 for the Prime Minister's XI against England in Canberra
« Prev Showing 8 of 11 Next »
February 1971
Another innings ends
Retires from role as Australian selector, a position held since 1936-37, apart from a couple of years in the early 1950s when his son John was sick with polio
January 5, 1974
Attends the opening of the Bradman Stand at the Sydney Cricket Ground
1987
A man and his museum
The Bradman Museum Trust forms and two years later Bradman is at the pavilion opening. It is next to Bradman Oval, which is across the road from his childhood home
« Prev Showing 9 of 11 Next »
1996
Inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
2000
All-time best
Named one of Wisden's five Cricketers of the Century alongside Jack Hobbs, Viv Richards, Garry Sobers and Shane Warne
September 14, 1997