Ex-captains pay tribute to Bradman

Sydney, February 26: Former Australian cricket captains Mark Taylor, Richie Benaud and Bill Brown paid glowing tributes to Sir Donald Bradman who died on Sunday aged 92.

Taylor, who paid the ultimate compliment to Bradman when, in 1998, he equaled his highest test score of 334 in a match against Pakistan but refused to better his record score, declaring his innings closed out of respect to him.

"Sir Donald is certainly the greatest Australian I have met," Taylor said in a statement.

"Fifty-three years after playing his final test match he was still revered around the world, held in incredible esteem.

"As a cricketer, the world has known no equal. He was the true symbol of fine sportsmanship, the benchmark that all young cricketers aspired to.

"His innings may have closed but his legacy will forever live on in the hearts of millions of Australians."

Bradman's former teammate Brown said Bradman was more than just a cricketer.

"He was the pinnacle of Australian cricket. You could sum it up by saying he was a great Australian," Brown said.

"I think he'd like to be remembered as someone who certainly did his best for Australia and as far as I can recollect, I'm sure I'm right, there was not a blemish I can remember on his character."

Benaud, now a highly regarded television commentator, captained Australian in the 1960s while Bradman was chairman of the Australian selection panel.

"We had a very successful time on the field because of the knowledge and awareness of those three [selectors] and particularly The Don who was very, very good," Benaud said.

"He was always a couple of overs ahead of the play, as I suspect he was on the field as well."

In England, former England captain Mike Gatting said: "We all owe him a great deal. He continued to do a great deal for the game of cricket after he finished his career.

"People don't know, but he was still getting requests for autographs after he finished in the game. He used to spend one day a week signing them."

"I can comfortably say he was the best of his time and certainly the averages suggest he was the best of all time. I don't think we'll ever see his like again. People just don't score as freely any more."

Former England fast bowler Fred Trueman said: "He was possibly the greatest batsman who ever lived. I would have loved to have had the great honor of bowling against him. That would have been marvelous. He was the best.

Ex-test umpire Dickie Bird said: "He was a wonderful player who seemed to caress the ball. He was a genius. It is a massive blow to cricket. He had balance, saw the ball early and had a tremendous eye."

The Bodyline series will always be remembered, but he also skippered the 1948 side which was probably the greatest team ever.