Sir Don Bradman is often remembered not only for his stellar career but also for his remarkable number. The number that brought his career to a bittersweet end is the number zero. Today we will talk about how the figure “Zero” brightly fades the career of Sir Don.
Early Stage of Sir Don
Sir Donald George Bradman was born in New South Wales, Australia, on the 27th of August 1908. But he spent his adolescence in the NSW town of Bowral. From an early age, he was used to playing with a stamp and a tiny golf ball, where he repeatedly hit the ball against a wall. He invented a unique solo cricket game on his own and practiced continuously. With this solitary game, he developed the monster mentality about test cricket in his mind that pushed him to be one of the greatest batsmen of all time.” The small bat made this no easy matter as the ball came back at great speed and of course, at widely different angles.” said Don Bradman. He played 52 matches for Australia, with an average of 99.94; barely anyone can break this record. He made his first appearance against England on 30 November, 1928. Sir Don didn’t show his prodigy in the first match, as he scored only 19 runs in his first Test.
Bradman scored his first official hundred against the Sheffield Shield champions Victoria in his first-class debut. His test career was initially harsh. Later, he became the test captain of Australia and ended up being the best Test batsman in history with 29 hundred and 13 fifty. In his highly prolific career, Sir Don holds many more records. The first batsman to score a triple century twice and score the highest number of runs in a single series, Sir Don’s career was like a fairytale story.
Figure “Zero”
Brightly Fades the Don. What does that mean?
It was 1948, and Australia toured England for a five-match Test series. Australia had won 3 matches of the first 4 matches, and the series was set for the Aussies. The last test match started on the 14th of August at the Oval. From the general people to the queen of England, everyone was eagerly waiting for the last match. Because Don Bradman was set to retire after a career spanning 20 years. Don Bradman was about to retire with the average of the highest in the game.
England was blown away after deciding to bat first. Then Bradman stepped onto the field for his last match. The whole world expected a fairytale ending and a hundred from the Don of cricket. Bradman received a grand applause from the spectators that lasted for a few minutes. His average was incredibly over 100 before the match. Bradman needed only 4 runs to make the average 100. But England’s pitch was so slow and brittle that everyone knew Australia wouldn’t have to perform in the next innings. That means it was going to be Sir Don Bradman’s last match. Only four measly runs! For a man who averages a hundred per innings. Bradman played his first ball effortlessly. But in the second ball, the world saw the unthinkable as Sir Don misjudged Eric Hollies googly and got out for 0(Zero). Don Bradman’s average had dipped to 99.94 and froze for all time. His failure to achieve a 100 average became a history that went into cricketing folklore. A player so invincible was just short 4 runs to make an unthinkable possible.
Writer
Md Abu Jayed
Intern
Content Writing Department
YSSE