Don Bradman - 9780413776358

This book is a celebration of Australia's sporting hero, and one of the most astonishing sportsmen of all time. Don Bradman made his debut in first-class cricket in Adelaide on December 16, 1927, playing for New South Wales against South Australia. He was then 19 years of age. In the 10 years that followed, Bradman rewrote batting records. He played 51 Test innings and scored 4,659 runs for an average of 97. He also played another 153 first class innings, scoring 11,926 runs for an average of 90. His performance was fantastic in every meaning of the word. In those 10 years there were 61 scores of 100 or more, including the record Test score of 334 against England at Headingley in 1930. As captain of Australia, Bradman also inspired his team to an historic victory against "Gubby" Allen's England in the 1936-37 Ashes series. This small, elegant book tells the story of Bradman's early years in a number of essays, observations, and articles by celebrated cricket writers including Neville Cardus, Douglas Jardine, and C. L. R. James, and, of course, Wisden. It also reproduces Bradman's scorecards and statistics for major games, and has an essay and foreword by Piers Morgan, who was a friend and correspondent of Bradman in the years prior to his death in 2001.