Such were his feats
with the willow that ages ago someone coined a new word: Bradmanesque. Even
after so much water has flowed down the Torrens since young Don scorched the
turfs of Australia and England, none has been able to commit the sacrilege of
emulating Bradmanesque deeds. Herculean tasks might be achieved, but a
Bradmanesque average remains well nigh unattainable.
Don was precociously
talented and completely focused. Though he never received any formal coaching,
it is well chronicled how he would practise all by himself, endlessly hitting a
golf ball against a circular brick tank stand with a stump, a kerosene can
serving as the wicket. Such a single-minded endeavour helped develop strong
powers of concentration and a keen sense of timing. He learnt how to hit the
ball coming at him at various angles, different speeds and varying degrees of
bounce. The exercise also helped build up physical strength and footwork.
Anyone who has tried out this routine would know how difficult it is. But Don
with his perseverance, keen ball sense and hand-eye co-ordination - much touted
today - mastered it.
Such exertion made it
so much easier for him to strike the much larger and considerably less volatile
cricket ball with a significantly broader blade of the much-simpler-to-handle
cricket bat. The sheer diligence and dedication, and the resolve to excel and
to achieve perfection were apparent from a tender age, and impelled Don Bradman
to take one giant stride after another in his cricketing journey.
Years later, A.G.
Moyes, well-known cricket writer and New South Wales selector when Bradman made
his way into the team, wrote in his book Bradman: “He was richly endowed
in skill by nature, but he did not rest on that, for he wanted earnestly always
to build on the foundation. His batting rested on the sound basis of common
sense, and there were few riddles he did not know the answer. He practised
consistently and methodically, as does the professional pianist who knows that
his success depends on the suppleness of his fingers and certainty of his
touch. No man can reach the dizzy heights without this painstaking devotion to
his art, and in cricket’s long pilgrimage no one has striven harder to reach
perfection.”
Don’s carpenter
father George was a keen cricketer, an allrounder who played regularly in local
matches around Bowral. He spurred Bradman junior’s interest in the game, and it
is reckoned that the youngster played a proper match in 1919, showing his prowess
by scoring 55. He hit his first hundred the next season, when he was a little
over 12 years, for his Bowral Public School against Mittagong School. It was,
in fact, a brilliant allround performance, an unbeaten 115 out of a total of
150, and eight wickets to his name.
A two-day trip in
February 1921 to Sydney with his father to watch his first Test match was in
every respect a cricketing pilgrimage. It must have been enthralling for the
impressionable mind to see Australia’s awesome side led by the imposing Warwick
‘Big Ship’ Armstrong hand out a drubbing (the series ended 5-0) to Johnny
Douglas’ touring English team. That Test witnessed hundreds by home heroes
Charlie ‘Governor General’ Macartney, Herbie Collins and skipper Armstrong,
whose power-packed knock was reckoned to be his best. Also in action was the
greatest batsman of the time Jack Hobbs. Don must have come away satiated. He
vowed that he would never be satisfied until he played on this magnificent
ground. Armstrong next led his team on a triumphant tour of England the same
year. Little was Bradman to know then that this champion Australian side would
be compared to his own ‘Invincibles’ 27 summers later.
(Author Indra Vikram Singh can be contacted
on singh_iv@hotmail.com).
Don’s
Century
Published
by Sporting Links
ISBN
978-81-901668-5-0, Fully Illustrated
French
Fold 21.5 cm x 28 cm, 188 Pages
Price
Rupees 995
Indra
Vikram Singh’s latest books published by Sporting Links:
A
Maharaja’s Turf ISBN 978-81-901668-3-6
The
Big Book of World Cup Cricket ISBN 978-81-901668-4-3
Don’s
Century ISBN 978-81-901668-5-0
Crowning Glory ISBN
978-81-901668-6-7
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