It all started in his home’s backyard, with a cricket stump and a golf ball. From these humble beginnings, Sir Donald Bradman, the ‘Boy from Bowral,’ embarked on a 20-year cricketing career during which he single-handedly scored almost 26% of his team’s total runs. As former Australian Captain Bill Woodfull famously remarked, Bradman was ‘worth three batsmen to Australia.’
To be honest, Bradman’s cricketing career was utterly insane, boasting statistics that remain unthinkable. In Test cricket, he amassed 6,996 runs in just 80 innings at an astonishing average of 99.94, including 29 centuries. In first-class cricket, his dominance continued, accumulating 28,067 runs at an average of 95.15, with a career-best of 452 not out.
Even 70 years after his retirement, many of his records stand unbeatable. Here’s my effort to list 5 of Don Bradman’s most insane cricket records.
1. Don Bradman’s peerless Test Batting Average
Bradman walked out to bat for the very last time in his Test career at The Oval, averaging a staggering 101.39. However, on the second delivery of that final innings, he misjudged a googly from England spinner Eric Hollies and was clean bowled for a duck. Following England’s innings victory in that match, Bradman never had another chance to bat.
That fateful duck dropped his career average to 99.94. Had he managed just four more runs, it would have been a fabled three-figure average. Yet, even at 99.94, it remains, by far, the highest batting average in Test Cricket history.
To put this into perspective, no other cricketer who has played a minimum of 50 Test matches boasts an average above 60. Consider the current generation’s ‘Fab 4’ players, who lead in Test batting averages:
- Steve Smith: 56.02
- Kane Williamson: 54.88
- Joe Root: 50.80
- Virat Kohli: 46.85 (Retired)
Seeing these numbers, it’s clear that Bradman’s statistics are truly untouchable. It’s almost as if he simply never believed in the ‘Law of Averages’ throughout his extraordinary career.
2. The fondness for Daddy Hundreds
Sir Donald Bradman scored 12 scores of 200 or more in Test Cricket, a record for the most double centuries by any batsman in Test cricket to date.
Bradman also boasts two triple centuries to his name, an achievement that still stands as the equal best for Most Triple Centuries in Test Cricket. He shares this record with Chris Gayle and Brian Lara of West Indies, and Virender Sehwag of India—all these batsmen have two 300s in Tests. Notably, Bradman was the first to achieve two 300s in Tests!
He also holds the record for the most 250+ scores in Test cricket, with five.
Additionally, he once recorded a score of 299 not out against South Africa, making him the only batsman in history to do so. He also holds the record for scoring the most 200+ scores in a single Test series: three against England in 1930.
Bradman’s incredible conversion rates include turning 36.26% of his Test innings into centuries and 15% into double centuries (both world-leading). Furthermore, he maintained a conversion ratio of 69% from fifties to hundreds and 26% from hundreds to double centuries (once again, the best).
3. Highest Test Batter Rating ever!
To date, only once has a batsman surpassed the 950-mark in ICC’s Test batting rating points, and that batsman is Don Bradman. Bradman’s highest of 961 points remains the best-ever rating achieved by any batsman in Test cricket.
Steve Smith, the Australian batsman, came close with 947 points before his year-long ban due to the ‘Sandpapergate’ incident. Virat Kohli, the Indian cricketer, reached near 930, making him one of the very few batsmen to almost reach Bradman’s rating points.
Still, one needs utmost consistency and superior performance, especially against top teams, to achieve and maintain such high ratings. Here is how ICC rating points are calculated and the list of five batsmen who have reached 900+ rating points in both Tests and ODIs.
4. Most Runs in a Day of Test Cricket
When examining the top 50 innings with the most runs scored in a single day of Test Cricket, Don Bradman’s name appears an impressive six times.
His monumental score of 309 not out on the first day of the 1930 Leeds Test against England stands as the only 300+ score ever achieved by a batsman in a single day of Test cricket. This naturally makes it the highest score ever recorded in a single day of Test cricket! You can find the top ten scorers in a single day of a Test match here.
Throughout his career, Bradman achieved scores of 200 or more runs in a single day of Test cricket on six separate occasions. Moreover, he also holds the record for scoring a century in a single session of a Test match more times than anyone else – a feat he accomplished six times in total (once pre-lunch, twice between lunch and tea, and three times between tea and stumps).
5. The Real Hero of the Ashes
Don Bradman spent the vast majority of his career playing against England in the Ashes. Out of the 80 international Test innings he played, a remarkable 63 were against England in Ashes series, accounting for 79% of his career innings.
He played 37 Test matches (all in the Ashes) against England, out of his entire 52 Test matches. During these encounters, he scored a massive total of 5,028 runs against England, representing 72% of his overall Test runs.
Consequently, he holds the record for the Most Runs against a Single Team in Test Cricket, and remains the only batsman to score over 5,000 Test runs against a single opponent.
And, in the Ashes – the storied competition between Australia and England – he holds these remarkable records even today:
- Most Runs in Ashes: 5,028
- Most Centuries in Ashes: 19
- Highest Average in Ashes: 89.79
- Most Runs in a Single Ashes Series: 974 in 5 Tests (1930)
It is also the highest any batter has scored within a bilateral Test series.
Wrapping it up:
It’s important to note that Bradman’s career was interrupted by war, leading him to miss playing any cricket between 1940 and 1945. He also faced more than one life-threatening injury during his time as a cricketer. One can only imagine what his already phenomenal numbers might have been if circumstances had been more supportive.
Beyond England, Bradman played against India, West Indies, and South Africa, facing each in a single Test series, totalling five Test matches against these nations. His averages of 178.75 against India and an astounding 201.50 against South Africa stand as the highest individual batting averages in Test cricket within a single Test series.
While Don Bradman’s incredible cricket records might one day be surpassed, the sheer dominance he exerted over his opponents can never truly be reiterated by any other batsman.
Thanks for Reading!
