Google honours Sir Donald Bradman with Doodle on his 110th birth anniversary

Former Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar still vividly remembers the legend he had met in Australia in 1998. And he recalled that meeting when Internet giant Google paid tribute to the former Australian captain Sir Donald Bradman on his 110th birth anniversary. It came up with a doodle showing Bradman, called the ‘greatest cricketer the game ever seen’, hitting a glorious cover drive.

Bradman, fondly called ‘The Don’ not just as a brief version of his name Donald but also authority over batsmanship, was born in Cootamundra in Australia’s New South Wales province in 1908. The man, who had an English heritage on both sides of his family, was known to develop his exquisite batting skills by hitting a golf ball using cricket stump, much narrower than a bat.

29 centuries in 52 Tests; 117 tons in 234 first-class games

Bradman made his debut for Australia in 1928 and played 52 Tests till 1948 during which he scored 6,996 runs at a staggering average of 99.94. He required just four runs to score in his last innings to make a perfect average of 100 but fell for a duck. In first class cricket, The Don averaged 95.14 in 234 matches with a score of over 28,000! He hit 29 centuries in Tests and 117 in first-class games!

When Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack polled 100 former cricket players and journalists to decide on the top cricketers of the 20th century, all 100 came up with the Don’s name. The man was honoured with a museum when he was still alive and a knighthood in 1949. The man is known for hitting a triple century in one day of a Test and also slamming a ton in three overs in a domestic match.

Bradman had played against just four oppositions – England, South Africa, India and the West Indies. Against India, he had played five matches and scored 715 runs in them at an average of 178 plus. He had hit four hundreds, including a double, and a fifty against India in 1947-48.

As a captain, Bradman had led Australia in 24 Tests between 1936 and 1948 and won 15 of them while lost only three. Six Tests were drawn under his captaincy. Bradman, a member of the Australian squad known as ‘The Invincibles’, remained connected to cricket even after retirement as administrator and commentator. He breathed his last at Kensington Park in South Australia on February 25, 2001.

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