Ten Things
you may not have known about Bradman
Did you know ?
1)
That Bradman was a teetotaler is one of the great myths
about him. Although his favourite drink was tea, he enjoyed the
occasional Brandy and a glass of wine at lunch. His favourite was rice
pudding.
2)
He won the South Australian Squash champion-ship in 1939, beating
tennis player Don Turnbull in five sets.
3) His
father took him to see his first test match at the SCG in 1921 between
Australia and England. The second test match he saw, was his playing
debut.
4)
His first ever-competitive match was as an 11-year-old in Bowral.
He scored 55. He made his maiden century at the age of 12 in which match
he also took 8 wickets. Later, in the Berrima district competition final
between Bowral and Moss Vale in the NSW Southern Highlands, the
17-year-old Don was promised a new bat by his mother Emily if he scored
a century. When he emerged after the five-day match with 300 runs and a
district record, he jokingly asked his mom if he could have three bats.
5)
When he developed acute appendicitis during the 1934 tour of
England, it was feared he might die. Aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith
offered to fly his wife Jessie to London to be by his side.
6)
Bradman was born on the same day in 1908 as the former US
President, Lyndon B. Johnson.
7)
In October 2000, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said he
would amend corporation law to ban companies from using a name that
suggests a connection with Sir Donald.
8)
The English bowler who denied the Don his 100 average by bowling
him for a second-ball duck was Eric Hollies.
9)
Don the bowlers two test scalps were West Indies fast bowler
George Francis, lbw for 27 in 1930, and the great English batsman Wally
Hammond, bowl for 85 in 1933, both in Adelaide.
10)
As a guest player for Blackheath vs. a Lithgow team in the early
1930’s, Don knocked up a century in three eight-ball overs. The
scoring shots were: 6,6,4,2,4,4,6,1; 6,4,4,6,6,4,6,4; 1*,6,6,1,1*,4,4,6.
(* His partner played the first and the fifth ball for a single).
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