Don Bradman – Test Captaincy Record

Key Insights

Don Bradman is the eighth-most successful Test captain for Australia. He won 15 of the 24 matches he led Australia in.

Bradman’s win percentage of 62.50 is the second-best among Australian captains who’ve won at least 10 Tests.

11 of Bradman’s 15 wins came against England, which is the second-most by an Australian Test skipper against them.

Bradman’s first Test win as captain came in early 1937. It was his third match as skipper, and Australia won against England by 365 runs in Melbourne.

Australia did not lose a single series under Bradman’s leadership. He was at the helm in five Test series and won each of them. Four of those series victories came against England, with Australia retaining the Ashes every time. The other series victory came against India in 1947/48.

Don Bradman Test Batting Stats as Captain

Key Insights

Don Bradman is one of the nine Australian captains to score 3000-plus runs in Tests.

Bradman’s average of 101.51 is the highest among all captains in Test history who have scored at least 500 runs.

Bradman’s 14 centuries are the joint fourth most by an Australian captain in Tests, and 7th overall. His 21 fifty-plus scores are the joint eighth most as a skipper for the Aussies.

12 of Bradman’s Test hundreds came in wins, which is the second-most as a captain for Australia behind Ricky Ponting’s 14.

Bradman scored four double centuries as captain, the joint-most for Australia, and 3rd overall. All four of those double tons came in victories, which is the most by any captain for Australia.

Bradman has logged the fourth-highest individual score by an Australian skipper in Tests. He scored 270 against England in the third innings of the 1937 MCG Test, the same game in which he won his first Test as captain.

Bradman aggregated 810 runs in the 1936/37 Ashes, his maiden series as captain. This remains the most runs scored by an Aussie skipper in a Test series. Bradman is also the only captain to score 700-plus runs in two Test series – both coming at home. Here are the captains who scored the most runs in an away Test series.