The prolific run-maker, the undefeated captain, and the greatest of the cricketer

Sir Don Bradman (1908-2001) was no ordinary man, no common or garden cricketer. He may have been the greatest Australian of his lifetime or even the whole cricketing era. He was, in the words of Sri Lankan writer, God’s gift to cricket for his fulsome talents, his place on Olympus and the way he gave cricket a status above and beyond the field of play.

For instance he scored 6996 Test runs out of his 52 Tests at the magical average of 99.94 runs per innings. No wonder, none of the cricketers had or will ever have such figures. It is not true that bowling was poorer, fielding indolent and tactics greatly inferior compared with today. Bradman might not have made so many so easily in modern era, but in his era and many other eras it is one of the most astounding feats of all time.

It has been privilege enough to be on earth in his lifetime, a wonder to have seen him practice his art and a pleasure simply to read of his career and witness his deeds. He was a cricketing monarch who will never have a successor. The throne he occupied will always remain vacant, as empty as one’s memory is brimful, overflowing with the gems of the great man’s cricketing genius.