Every lover of cricket had somehow imagined that DonaldBradman, cricket's greatest son, would be around to hit a century. Alas,death intruded. But as tributes poured in from every corner of the world, sodid evidence that this icon will continue to live as long as cricket isplayed on the face of the earth. It is not difficult to understand why thisis the case. Somehow Sir Donald seemed to embody all that was great, goodand glorious about the funny little game.First, there was that raw courage to take on the bowler, even one driven toacts of desperation in the face of batting excellence, as theBradman-Larwood encounters are lasting testimony to. Hitting a historic 334in the very first Test he played on English soil in 1930 was his reply toEnglish arrogance. But there was more to Bradman than just courage. Therewas genuine class. As those who have played with him have vouched for,Bradman's primary objective as a batsman was not just to stay at the pitchbut to get runs. When he retired in 1949, the final tally - 6,996 runs -said it all. They yielded an average of 99.94 that only the Gods could haveaspired to. Then, there was a rare capacity for hard work. Natural skillswere honed to perfection and the manner in which he perfected his strokeplay by practising with a soft ball which was then hit against a corrugatedmetal water tank, is now legend. But there was more to Bradman than justcourage, class and hard work. There was also a natural instinct that almostanticipated the bowler. It is said that if he could read the bowler'sintention and if it was where he thought it would be, he would hit the ballfor a four and, if it wasn't, he would still push it for a single. As heonce quietly observed, "I saw much better batsmen than I was. Lots ofthem...they just kept getting out."
There's one more quality that Sir Donald which, ultimately, accounted forhis lasting appeal: integrity. Public adulation which dogged him on and offthe field, never once fooled him into imagining that he was greater than thegame. Many great players who followed him into cricket's Hall of Fame seemedto lack this, to the game's lasting ignominy. It wasn't surprising then thatat a time when Australia went through economic depression and social despairin the late thirties and early forties, Bradman's compatriots looked to himfor solace. With a quick eye and flick of the wrist, he presented aninspirational figure. As it turned out, Bradman inspired not just his fellowAustralians but everyone who delighted in cricket, as players and asspectators. Truly, quiet and powerful flowed The Don.
This editorial from The Indian Express has been edited for space
Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
