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| |  Monday, 26 February, 2001, 06:58 GMT Bradman dies at 92 Every bowlers nightmare - Sir Donald at the crease Australian cricket legend Sir Donald Bradman has died in Adelaide, aged 92. The director of the Bradman Foundation, Richard Mulvaney, said Australia's greatest sporting hero had died in his sleep on Sunday. "Sir Donald Bradman died peacefully at his home, after a short illness," Mulvaney said. "He was suffering from pneumonia before Christmas and was hospitalised for a short period, went home and was really trying to recover." Australian Prime Minister John Howard visited Bradman just over a week ago and admitted he was prepared for the worst.
He said: "He was more than just a great cricketer and a great sportsman. "He was a dominant Australian personality in a way that I don't think any other person has been in the last 100 years," 'The Don' became a national sporting hero during the 1930s and 1940s when he rewrote cricket's record books. Bradman scored 6,996 runs in 52 tests at an average of 99.94, a figure which would have been over 100 had he scored four runs in his last Test at the Oval in 1948. The Australian was bowled, second ball, by Eric Hollies for a duck at the London venue, and walked off in tears to a tremendous ovation. In later years he dismissed as "hogwash" suggestions that such emotion was due to the dismissal and his failure to reach the three-figure average.
Wisden, cricket's authoritative almanac, last year named Bradman as the best cricketer of the 20th century. Knighted in 1949, he went on to become a cricket administrator and selector in Australia, and also wrote extensively on the game. But as he got older, he increasingly withdrew from the public eye. Bradman's wife Jessie died of cancer, aged 88, in September 1997. England bowling great Fred Trueman said: "He was a wonderful man and it is the passing of a legend.
"I would love to have had the great honour of bowling against him - that would have been marvellous." England's chairman of selectors, David Graveney, said: "The word icon is perhaps used too often, but it does apply to him. "I don't think his batting record will ever be touched." Former England captain Brian Close said: "He was meek in some ways and did not thrust (his deeds) down people's throats. Today's players could learn a lot from him." Former Test umpire Dickie Bird described Bradman as "a genius" at the crease. "He had a wonderful eye, his timing was perfect, he had great balance, and he caressed the ball. "Not only was he the greatest, he was a true gentleman." | |
See also:  25 Feb 01 | Cricket 25 Feb 01 | Sport Front Page 25 Feb 01 | Death of Don Bradman 25 Feb 01 | Death of Don Bradman Top Death of Don Bradman stories now: Links to more Death of Don Bradman stories are at the foot of the page. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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