Legend of the Day — Sir Donald Bradman

Sir Donald Bradman (1908-2001)

Sir Donald Bradman is an Australian sporting legend.

No other sportsperson in Australian history has captured the respect and admiration of the sporting public the way 'The Don', the cricketer from Bowral in the State of New South Wales (NSW), has done.

During his 21 years of first-class cricket, Bradman achieved everything that was possible in the sport - he captained his South Australian Sheffield Shield team; was a State selector; Test selector; and captain of the Australian Team for almost a decade, including of the 1948 Australian Test team known as The Invincibles.

Bradman averaged a century - 100 runs - once in every three innings he played. His batting averages are revered.

In his first international tour (1930) Bradman made 2960 runs (with a batting average of 98.66), including 10 centuries. In his final tour 18 years later, he made 2428 runs with an 89.92 batting average, including 11 centuries.

When he retired in 1948, Bradman's legacy to the cricketing world was a remarkable Test batting average of 99.94.

The tributes to Bradman kept coming after he retired. In 1949 he became the only Australian cricketer to be knighted. And in 1988 the Australian Confederation of Sport voted him greatest male athlete of the past 200 years.

In 1960 Bradman became the first former Test player to be elected chairman of the Australian Board of Control. He continued to serve cricket as a selector and a member of the Board, including as chairman, for two terms. On 16 June 1979 he was invested as a Companion of the Order of Australia.

According to Bradman's official web site, this famous cricketer also holds other awards, including:

• Sportsman of the Century;
• Captain of the Greatest Team of the Century (1948 Australian cricket team);
  
• Wisden Cricketer of the Century;
  
• Captain of the Australian Cricket Team of the Century;
  
• nominated in the top ten world sports figures of the century by the World Confederation of Sport; and
  
• elected in the top 100 world figures of the twentieth century - one of only two Australians to be included.
  
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