Donald Bradman

Sir Donald Bradman was born on 27 August 1908 in a rural town in New South Wales called Cootamundra. He grew up in Bowral as an athletic child where he began by playing backyard cricket. While at home he used to bounce an old golf ball off a water tank and hit it on the rebound with a cricket stump.

The "Run-Making Machine", as he would become known in his later life, showed talent throughout his younger years, scoring his first century in the Bowral High School cricket team while still only twelve. At 17 he was a regular player for the Bowral senior team and during the 1925-1926 season, he made 1318 runs in 23 innings. He then progressed on to playing cricket for Sydney's St. George Club at a first grade level until he was selected in 1927 to join the New South Wales team.

In 1928 he played his very first Test match representing Australia against England in the Ashes series, however it did not look to be a promising start. He scored only 18 runs in the first innings and 1 in the second. He was dropped from the Second Test, but was given a second chance for the Third Test. In the 1928-1929 season he amassed 1690 runs of which more than 700 were scored in the form of a century on the batting oval.

Bradman's career in first-class cricket as a prodigious batsman extended for over two decades. One of the most memorable moments was during a match in the Sheffield Shield competition in 1930 when he made the highest personal score in a first-class match in Australia, 452 runs scored in a world record time of 415 minutes.

It was during this time that Bradman was beginning to become a significant figure not only in the sporting domain but also on the international scene, Australia itself was still finding its place in the world. It was a comparatively young nation compared to the rest of the world, and while it managed to escape the First World War with some heavy casualties and a newly established national character, it now faced the Great Depression.

During the Depression, the majority of the Australian public were without food, jobs and even homes. Every day was a constant struggle for them. It was a period of severe hardships and as a result many of them turned their attention to sport to take their minds off their situations. Cricket, in particular, has always been a sport for which Australians have felt deep affection. Even before the separate colonies of Australia were united by Federation and recognised as a nation, there was an Australian cricket team.

During the 1930s Donald Bradman boosted the morale of society and renewed their sense of national pride. Ordinary people could escape the worries of their daily lives by immersing themselves in stories of Bradman's heroic sporting feats. As a result, he was often described by others at the time as a 'bright star,' owing to the way he inspired people, even in the most desolate of times.

Exercises:

On a new page in your books put the Heading “Donald Bradman”. Under the heading write a 1/2 page summary based upon the information above. After you have completed the summary, write the following sub-headings and the questions in your books and answer them in full sentences using the links to the websites listed below.

"The Don"

1. Where did the Bradman family live when Donald was born?
2. What other activities was Donald involved in other than sport whilst he was at school?
3. How did Donald meet his wife?
4. How old was Donald when he left school at what did he do?
5. How did he get the title "Our Don"?
6. In your own words why was Bradman so significant?
7. In your own words what effects did Bradman have on Australian society?