Don Bradman: the batsman with an unmatched average of 99.94

Many great batsmen have played the game, but one name is the standard by which all others are measured. He is Australia’s Don Bradman. He scored 6,996 runs in 52 Test matches at an average of 99.94, including 29 centuries¹. According to ESPNcricinfo, he was without doubt the greatest batsman of all time and the greatest cricketer of the 20th century². His Test average remains a figure that no other batsman has come close to.

Early life and start in cricket

Donald George Bradman was born on 27 August 1908 in Cootamundra, a small town in the Australian state of New South Wales. He batted right-handed and occasionally bowled leg-breaks. He was known as “The Don”. According to a Wisden essay, as a child he kept hitting a golf ball, which rebounded off a water tank, with a cricket stump. This practice sharpened his eye, footwork and concentration².

In the 1927-28 season he began first-class cricket for New South Wales and scored 118 in his first match, in Adelaide. He later played for South Australia².

The Test series between England and Australia is known as the Ashes. Bradman’s Test career began in that contest. On 30 November 1928 in Brisbane, he scored 18 and 1 against England. He was then dropped. According to ESPNcricinfo, this was the only time in his career that happened². He returned for the third Test, which began in Melbourne on 29 December 1928, and made 79 and 112 to secure his place¹.

1930: a flood of runs in England

The 1930 tour of England was the real start of Bradman’s fame. In that series he scored 131 in Nottingham, 254 at Lord’s, 334 at Leeds and 232 at The Oval. According to ESPNcricinfo, he made 974 runs in the series, and 309 of them came on the first day of the Test at Headingley, Leeds. That Test began on 11 July 1930. His innings of 334 lasted 383 minutes and included 46 fours¹. Bradman himself, however, considered his 254 at Lord’s to be his best innings².

The run-scoring continued in the following years. In the home series against South Africa in 1931-32, he scored 226 in Brisbane, 112 in Sydney, 167 in Melbourne and 299 not out in Adelaide. His average in the five Tests against South Africa was 201.5¹.

Bodyline and captaincy

In 1932-33, England toured Australia under Douglas Jardine and adopted a particular bowling tactic that became known as “Bodyline”. According to ESPNcricinfo, its aim was to contain Bradman. Cricket history later judged the method harsh and unfair. England won the series 4-1. Bradman missed the first Test because of illness. On his return in Melbourne he was out first ball, but he scored 103 not out in the second innings¹. Even in that difficult series his average was 56.57².

On the 1934 tour of England, he scored 304 at Leeds and 244 at The Oval¹. At The Oval, his partnership with Bill Ponsford was then a world record for the second wicket².

In 1936-37 he became Australia’s captain. After losing the first two Tests against England, he came in at number seven in Melbourne and scored 270. He then made 212 in Adelaide and 169 in Melbourne, and Australia won the series 3-2. As captain, he averaged 101.51 in 24 Tests. In 1946-47, during his innings of 234 in Sydney, his stand of 405 with Sid Barnes was a world record for the fifth wicket¹².

In the home series against India in 1947-48, his bat again spoke loudly. He scored 185 in Brisbane, 132 and 127 not out in the same Test in Melbourne, and 201 in Adelaide. His average in five Tests against India was 178.75¹.

1948: the unbeaten side and the last innings

In 1948, approaching the age of 40, Bradman captained the Australian side that did not lose a single match on the whole tour of England and came to be called the “Invincibles”. In the fourth Test at Leeds, Australia were set 404 to win on the final day. Bradman scored 173 not out, with 29 fours, and led the team to victory¹. According to ESPNcricinfo, it was then the highest successful chase in Test cricket, and it was his 29th and last Test century².

His final Test began at The Oval on 14 August 1948. He needed only 4 runs to take his career average to 100. But he was bowled for a duck by a googly from leg-spinner Eric Hollies, on the second ball he faced. It proved to be his last Test innings, and his Test average was fixed for ever at 99.94¹. According to ESPNcricinfo, that human moment only added to his appeal².

Statistics

Source: ESPNcricinfo Statsguru¹. The figures are for his international career.

Legacy

On 1 January 1949, it was announced that he would be knighted in recognition of his services to cricket. After leaving the game he stayed involved in cricket. He was a national selector for Australia for a long time and was twice elected chairman of the Australian Board of Control. In 2000, Wisden named him among the five greatest cricketers of the century². In 2009, the ICC inducted him into its Cricket Hall of Fame³.

He died on 25 February 2001, aged 92, in Kensington Park, Adelaide. The Bradman Museum in Bowral, the town of his childhood, keeps his memory alive today². One of the most striking figures is his average of 130.08 in the Tests that Australia won¹. The figure of 99.94 remains the most famous number in cricket, and it is by this that Bradman’s greatness is measured.