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Your Favourite Bradman Knocks?

Teja.

Global Moderator
Apart from two of us, none of the regular posters here have seen Bradman bat/lived and grew up around the time Bradman was in his prime. Yet the bond that develops with happenings of the past purely from opinion, records and the like is rather special in my opinion, due to the optimistic purity of it. (whether that misguides us in judging it is another question for another day)

Bradman's cricketing career is, rightly, the most celebrated and remembered among generations born later. Sometimes the fact that he averaged what he did leads to newer fans worshiping his numbers and looking it little else but that's a bloody shame IMO because he had one of, if not the most fascinating career, in many ways in cricketing history.

The most remarkable aspect for me was his tendency to play some absolutely stunning innings' at a ridiculous frequency. One would expect a batsman who racked up such huge scores to perhaps have been an accumulator but it's incredible to see that a considerable number of his most memorable ones, the ones which stand out the most even if scoring rate is not looked at, were actually scored at mind-boggling speeds especially for those times.

So what is your favourite Bradman innings? For me it's the 103* in the second ashes test, I know Larwood was injured for a portion of that innings but the sheer romance of it, Bradman, the best batsman by far in the world missing the first test, getting bowled out for a duck in the first innings and then scoring an unbeaten 103/191 in the last over of the Australian innings on the third day with 70,000+ people at the MCG in under 150 balls! A few classes above any other knock in the game and considering the match was a 228-169-191-139, a thumping victory margin of 119 runs shows how impressive that knock would've been on a deteriorating third day pitch. For me it's a better innings than McCabe's 187, impressive as it was and probably more important from a purely tacking bodyline POV as it was. According to the Wisden report "To few other Australian batsmen could such an innings as Bradman played have been possible"

Be good if someone could shed some light on some great Bradman FC tons too. As impressive a statistical monument as his Int'l record is, in my opinion.
 
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JBMAC

State Captain
I would have to say his 180 odd at The Gabba against the "old enemy"..ie England in 1946. It is the one innings of his that sticks in my mind mainly for a number of reasons.It was the first Test series played on aussie soil after the war, at 10 even I knew the story of The Don,and like the rest of Australia it was "Us versus The Poms".Having said that I still recall vividly the first 50 or so of that innings being grafted and the rest exploding like dynamite.I have said previously that while bradman had the full array of shots he could play I always remember him taking a rising ball on the off stump and turning into a hook shot for a boundary. His reflexes were that good.
 

ret

International Debutant
I would have to say his 180 odd at The Gabba against the "old enemy"..ie England in 1946. It is the one innings of his that sticks in my mind mainly for a number of reasons.It was the first Test series played on aussie soil after the war, at 10 even I knew the story of The Don,and like the rest of Australia it was "Us versus The Poms".Having said that I still recall vividly the first 50 or so of that innings being grafted and the rest exploding like dynamite.I have said previously that while bradman had the full array of shots he could play I always remember him taking a rising ball on the off stump and turning into a hook shot for a boundary. His reflexes were that good.
wonderful, this is like taking a trip back to that era! .... pls make more of such posts
 

shrikanthk

Cricket Spectator
103 at Headingley in 1938

To my mind, the most important and remarkable of Bradman's innings is the 103 he hit at Headingley in 1938.

Neither side had won a test leading up to the 4th test at Leeds. Australia HAD to win at Leeds to retain the Ashes, since they didn't have much of a chance in a timeless test on a flat Oval wicket.

It was a very close game and Bradman's innings was most crucial. He received very little support at the other end. To make matters worse, the light was terrible and most batsmen struggled to see the ball, except DGB ofcourse.

Neville Cardus has gone on record saying that never before has a test match been played in such nocturnal darkness!

A unique nocturnal innings in the history of cricket!
 

fredfertang

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Slightly flippant response to the OP but it's intended as praise:

My favourite Bradman innings are the two he didn't play at the Oval in 1938 which enabled England to win by an innings and 579 and Len Hutton to break his record for the highest individual score - If Bradman hadn't injured himself bowling then on that wicket I suspect that timeless Test would still have been unfinished by the time Hitler invaded Poland
 

Lillian Thomson

Hall of Fame Member
Slightly flippant response to the OP but it's intended as praise:

My favourite Bradman innings are the two he didn't play at the Oval in 1938 which enabled England to win by an innings and 579 and Len Hutton to break his record for the highest individual score - If Bradman hadn't injured himself bowling then on that wicket I suspect that timeless Test would still have been unfinished by the time Hitler invaded Poland
I admire your optimism that he would have played two innings in that Test. Australia would have made about 2000 and won the match by an innings.
 

shrikanthk

Cricket Spectator
regarding the 1938 oval test

Talking of the Oval test of '38...

I've heard that it was the first test ever to be telecast on British television.
Was it telecast live?

Are the videos available in the public domain?
I'd love some benevolent Englishman to upload all 5 days on youtube if possible!
 

JBMAC

State Captain
Talking of the Oval test of '38...

I've heard that it was the first test ever to be telecast on British television.
Was it telecast live?

Are the videos available in the public domain?
I'd love some benevolent Englishman to upload all 5 days on youtube if possible!
You could try BBC Motion Picture Gallery. They have some great footage on there
 

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