Birthday Of Cricket's Original G.O.A.T

Sir Donald Bradman [X]Sir Donald Bradman [X]

There can be a lot of arguments about who is the best batter to have played cricket. The opinions of spectators from different generations will vary. While some will opine Sri Viv Richards or Sunil Gavaskar was the greatest, others may vote for Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara or Ricky Ponting. The newer cricket followers will throw the names of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Steve Smith or Kane Williamson into the argument.

However, when someone has a career average of 99.94 in Test cricket, the arguments halt. Irrespective of your generation, such numbers demand respect, and Sir Donald Bradman surely deserves it. 

Considered the greatest batter to have graced the game (by most critics and experts), Sir Don Bradman was born on the 26th of August, 1908. He made his debut at the age of 20 on 30th November 1928 against England at Brisbane, a moment that would change the course of cricket history. 

Sir Donald Bradman's astonishing Test average

Sir Don played 52 Test matches for Australia, scoring 6,996 runs. Incidentally, he batted on 80 occasions in these 52 games, remaining not out in 10 cases. In cricket, while calculating the average, the total number of runs scored is divided by the number of innings batted while disregarding the innings in which one stays not out. So, it stands that Bradman scored 6,996 runs in 70 innings; thus, his average numbers are awe-inspiring at 99.94. 

Notably, Bradman needed just 4 runs in his last Test innings to achieve the unimaginable 100 average in Test cricket. However, the great man was dismissed for a duck in this case. Tales have it that Bradman had tears in his eyes as he was to leave the game after the innings and, hence, did not see the ball correctly, leading to his dismissal. 

Cricket has seen many great players after Bradman and will continue to see many more exceptional talents. However, Sir Don’s Test average will remain one of the rare unbreakable records in the game.