Sir Donald Bradman By Ashlee and Bonnie
| Sir Donald Bradman is a famous sporting hero. His achievements on the cricket field from 1928 to 1948 are still among the world's best. He is the best cricketer that has ever stepped on to a cricket ground in any part of the whole wide world. Sir Donald Bradman was born in 1908. His family lived in a country town, not far from Sydney. Sir Donald Bradman was a very fast runner as a child. Sir Donald's school didn't have a lot of sport, so he made up ways of amusing himself. One of his favorite games was to hit a golf ball against a corrugated iron tank with a cricket stump. This is the reason why his eye was so good. |
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Sir Donald left school at the age of 14 and didn't start playing serious cricket until 16. In one of his first matches he scored a massive 300. It wasn't long before the New South Wales cricket selectors wanted Sir Donald in their team and they saw his brilliant skill. The selectors were impressed and sent him to Adelaide and Melbourne. In 1928 he was selected to play for Australia against England. He had just turned 20 when he was offered the opportunity to play. Sir Donald scored a century in the third test, but Australia lost the series. He was soon given a nickname, The Running Scoring Machine. |
| Playing in a state match Sir Donald made 452 in world record time. The speed that Sir Donald made 452 runs in was just a little over 400 minutes. His outstanding battle guaranteed him a place on the 1930 Australian team tour to England. It took them 6 weeks to sail over there. Sir Donald enjoyed the tremendous adventure, but he said him-self that he was the worst sailor born, because he was seasick before he got on the boat. The tour was a success all round. Donald batted superbly, scoring 974 runs all together. He came home as a superstar. Experts were trying to figure out what made him so good. |
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At 24 he married Jessie Menzies, a girl
from his home town. He was starting to think about his future, and decided to
learn about business. The English cricketers were desperate to stop Sir Donald scoring so easily, so they came up with the nastiest tactic cricket had ever seen. It was called Bodyline. The English bowlers aimed for the batsman's body. Bodyline kept Sir Donald's batting average down a lot and England won the series. !n 1936 Donald was made Australian captain. He captained the team until 1948. World War 2 interrupted his brilliant cricket career. |
| Sir Donald Bradman died on the 25th of February 2001, at the age
of 92, in his Adelaide home. World Dignitaries will converge on Adelaide for the State Memorial Service to remember the sporting icon, Sir Donald Bradman. Sir Donald Bradman will be remembered as the world's best cricket player ever to be born. |
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Fact File About: Sir Donald Bradman
Full name: Sir Donald George Bradman Born: 27th August 1908 Died: On The 25th of February Famous for: His outstanding cricket Where he lived: A country town, not far from Sydney Wife: Jessie Menzies Children: 1 son, John Bradman and 1 daughter
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