Who Was the Greatest Cricket Batsman?
In many sports you find that there is heated debate when comparing great players of differing generations. Cricket is no different, although I feel that there can be little argument over who was the sport's greatest batsman of all time.
Sir Donald Bradman will forever be known as a legend of the game. The Australian Test Match player, known affectionately as "The Don", began his international career in 1928.
Bradman was 20 years of age and his debut came against Australia's greatest cricketing rival, England. The match was played in Brisbane and gave few hints as to the brilliance of Bradman, as he was dismissed for just 18 in the first innings, batting at number seven.
The second innings was even worse for Don and his Australian team-mates. Bradman scored only 1 run, as the Australia team were dismissed for a feeble total of 66, leading to a massive defeat.
Bradman's poor performance saw him miss out on the Second Test but he returned for the Third Test in Melbourne. Australia were again defeated but Bradman was to shine, making 79 in the first innings and his first Test century in the second.
He was to again perform with credit in the Fourth Test but was not to be part of a winning team until the final Test Match, in Melbourne, where his century in the second innings helped Australia to a win.
The following year Bradman was part of the team that regained the Ashes on tour in England. It was during this series that many saw the wonderful talent for the first time.
His performances in England included a century, two double centuries and his greatest ever innings - 334 runs in the drawn Third Test at Headingley.
By the time that he retired from Test cricket in 1948, Bradman had scored no less than 29 centuries and just short of 7,000 runs from his 52 matches for Australia.
His final batting average of 99.94 is unlikely to ever be bettered.
Bradman is undoubtedly the finest batsman ever to play the game of cricket.