Sir Donald Bradman is a cricketing legend of the world and a hero of Australia. The fame of Don Bradman is not just limited to the Australia but he is renowned worldwide for his extraordinary talent. The name of Bradman has almost become synonymous with Australian cricket. It was his contribution towards this sport that had made Australia one of the most successful cricketing nations of the world. Sir Donald Bradman is also known as �The Don� commonly. Many scholars and critics are of the opinion that Don Bradman was the greatest player in the 20th century.
Donald Bradman was born in the year 1908 on 27th of August at New South Wales. He was the youngest child in the family. Bradman has quit studies at the early age of 14 and got serious about cricket only when he turned sixteen. The common folklore goes that he taught himself the game of cricket and used to practice rigorously with a golf ball and a cricket stamp day and night. His devotion towards the game paid of when he got a chance to play for his motherland at the age of twenty. After that there was no looking back for him as he witnessed gradual growth and fame. The batting average achieved by Bradman is still a record which no one has yet come near. It was due to his great batting that Australian cricket team won a series of games against England and evolved as unbeatable for almost a decade. The score of three hundred in the early days resulted in his selection to the New South Wales team. In the test series of 1930 against England Don emerged as the biggest hero as they returned home victorious. In the next series between the two countries England decided to stop Bradman with the �bodyline� tactics. This brought down the batting average of Don but he could not be stopped entirely.
In 1936 the best thing happened in Sir Donald Bradman�s cricketing career when he was selected the captain of Australia. The Second World War caused a short interruption in the cricketing career of Bradman. After the cricket matches resumed Don played his last test match against England. He scored a duck as he was out after playing one ball. This was the reason why Don�s test cricket average remained 99.94 as he was unable to score 4 runs which would have given him an average of 100.
The glorious career of Sir Donald Bradman came to an end in 1949. He was also awarded with knighthood on this year. He was the first Australian to get a knighthood from the cricketing field. After his retirement he began to lead a lonely family life and was mostly out of limelight. In 2001, Sir Donald Bradman died in his home in Adelaide. Bradman is a legend never to be forgotten by the cricketing world as he had imprinted his name in the pages of history.
