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Celebrating the Birthday of Cricket’s Legendary G.O.A.T.
Debates about the greatest cricket batsman often stir up diverse opinions across generations. Some enthusiasts argue that legends like Sir Viv Richards or Sunil Gavaskar were the finest, while others champion the achievements of Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, or Ricky Ponting. Modern cricket fans might mention names like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Steve Smith, or Kane Williamson in these discussions.
Yet, when confronted with a career Test average of 99.94, such debates inevitably pause. Numbers of this magnitude command universal respect, regardless of generational biases. Sir Donald Bradman stands as a towering figure in cricket history, earning widespread acclaim as the sport’s greatest batsman.
Born on August 26, 1908, Sir Don Bradman made his Test debut at the age of 20 on November 30, 1928, against England in Brisbane. This debut marked the beginning of a cricketing career that would profoundly impact the game’s legacy.
Sir Donald Bradman’s Remarkable Test Batting Average
Sir Donald Bradman, widely regarded as the greatest cricketer ever, played 52 Test matches for Australia and accumulated a staggering 6,996 runs. Remarkably, he batted in 80 innings over these matches, remaining not out on 10 occasions. To calculate a player’s batting average, the total runs scored are divided by the number of innings in which the player has batted, excluding the innings where they were not out. Thus, Bradman’s total of 6,996 runs across 70 innings results in an extraordinary Test batting average of 99.94.
In his final Test innings, Bradman needed just four runs to achieve an unprecedented average of 100. Unfortunately, he was dismissed for a duck, falling short of this monumental milestone. Legend has it that Bradman, emotional about his impending retirement, did not see the ball clearly, which led to his dismissal.
While cricket has produced many great players both before and after Bradman, his Test batting average remains one of the most formidable and seemingly unbreakable records in the sport’s history.
