On Thursday, it was a day to remember as it was Sir Don Bradman’ s 101st birth anniversary. Like James Bond, Don Bradman has a timeless appeal. The Australian legend always makes for an interesting discussion, interesting watching and interesting reading. An interesting copy as well. Particularly, if it is on the eve of his birthday.
An effort to find the relevance of Bradman in these times of T20 led to some interesting questions – Would he have played the shortest form of the game, would he have played the IPL and would he have led Australia to victory in the Oval Test the other day? Interesting, isn’t it?
Given the hypothetical nature of the queries, it is anybody’s conjecture if the Don would have done this or not but a discussion with someone who has known the greatest batsman ever from close quarters, makes for an interesting discussion. Yes, interesting.
“It is not right to say Australia would have chased 548 if Bradman was playing,” says Bernard Whimpress, a cricket historian who has written a few books on Bradman and the Australia-England cricketing rivalry.
“The highest Australia chased under him was only 404,” is the reply of the Adelaide-based Whimpress, who has written a book called Bradman at the Adelaide Oval. He would remind: “If you bring in Sir Don, you have to bring in Jim Laker too. You cannot dispute as Laker is a better spinner than Graeme Swann and 548 would be difficult for Bradman too.”