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I found this on an American Site, maybe they do look outside their own backyard somethimes.
The Greatest Batsman Of All Time
The incredible legacy of Australian cricketer Sir Donald Bradman
by Jeff Merron
On Sunday, February 25, Sir Donald Bradman, an Australian national hero and the greatest cricketer of all time, died at the age of 92. Bradman was such a dominating figure in his sport, a man of such highly-regarded character, and a man of such reclusive tendencies that the American sports fan might imagine Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe DiMaggio all rolled up into one.
During his heyday, songs were written about him, and in 1987, Australian rocker Paul Kelly released "Bradman," a 7-minute, 32-second tribute. Now that Bradman's gone, haiku tributes also are being compiled.
His playing career spanned more than 20 years, from the mid-1920s to the late 1940s, and his records as a batsman will probably never be exceeded. He averaged 99.94 runs in his test matches, more than 60 percent better than anyone else. And he was a natural. "I was not a coached batsman," Bradman said. "It never worried me where my left elbow was, or the back of my left hand."
Bowlers tried everything to stop him, but to little avail. "Bradman took batting to its highest pitch," wrote Peter Roebuck in The Age. "Perhaps only Shakespeare has stood so far ahead of his peers."
He was such a tough batsman to get out that a tabloid-screamer "HE'S OUT" was once used to convey the news.
Bradman's cricket skills don't provide real evidence of his importance in Australian history. During the Depression, writes Richard Begbie in The Canberra Times, "The young genius offered near certain hope each time he strode to the crease . . . The Don carried within himself the sense of our identity in other, perhaps deeper ways. In him we saw incarnate the belief that success was a matter of ability and self-confidence, not birth or class. Cricket, England's metaphor for all that was best in the British way, could be played and cheerfully won on their terms, when Bradman was with you."
Bradman was first rumored to have died last summer, during the Sydney Olympics. "Had it been true then, the strange nature of this occasion would have been brought into the sharpest focus," writes Matthew engel in The Guardian. "Australia is in mourning at the passing of its most famous citizen; the rest of the cricketing world shares its grief; the other three-quarters of the planet is ignorant. Had the focus been on Sydney for the Games, there would have been global bewilderment."
It's hard to imagine, in the U.S., what Bradman's death means to Australians. One prominent Brit, David Graveney, said that Bradman's death would "rock Australia to its foundations." A Sydney University anthropologist said that the impact would be similar to that of the deaths of Princess Diana and John Lennon. "You can't remember what you were doing before or even after but years later you remember the moment that you were informed of the death of the famous person," said the professor.
Bradman's death was also huge news in Britain and in India. The U.K.'s Daily Mail asked, perhaps rhetorically, "Was Bradman the greatest sports star of all time?" The Times of India called Bradman the "crucible of all cricketing values: integrity, chivalry, dedication, compassion and fraternity."
Bradman's funeral and memorial service will be separate events. The funeral will be a private affair, despite South Australia's offer of a state funeral. A public memorial service will be held in a few weeks, at night, and broadcast nationally on large video screens.
Bradman will be further honored through a special memorial fund to be used to support cricket in Aboriginal communities. Also, the Australia Post will place condolence books in all post offices. These will be given, later, to the Sir Donald Bradman Museum in his boyhood home of Bowral.
Bradman memorabilia are already increasing in value, but many of his signed items will have more sentimental than real value. "It was his stated policy that he would sign anything. He wished to dilute the currency by flooding the market with signatures," said Christie's consultant Robert Parsons.
More than any other Australian figure, it seems, the memories of Sir Donald Bradman are collective, rather than individual. Perhaps it is fitting, then, that his most treasured items -- his personal collection of balls, stumps, silk scorecards, blazers, photos, paintings, and posters -- are available in a public, government exhibit.
The Greatest Batsman Of All Time
The incredible legacy of Australian cricketer Sir Donald Bradman
by Jeff Merron
On Sunday, February 25, Sir Donald Bradman, an Australian national hero and the greatest cricketer of all time, died at the age of 92. Bradman was such a dominating figure in his sport, a man of such highly-regarded character, and a man of such reclusive tendencies that the American sports fan might imagine Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe DiMaggio all rolled up into one.
During his heyday, songs were written about him, and in 1987, Australian rocker Paul Kelly released "Bradman," a 7-minute, 32-second tribute. Now that Bradman's gone, haiku tributes also are being compiled.
His playing career spanned more than 20 years, from the mid-1920s to the late 1940s, and his records as a batsman will probably never be exceeded. He averaged 99.94 runs in his test matches, more than 60 percent better than anyone else. And he was a natural. "I was not a coached batsman," Bradman said. "It never worried me where my left elbow was, or the back of my left hand."
Bowlers tried everything to stop him, but to little avail. "Bradman took batting to its highest pitch," wrote Peter Roebuck in The Age. "Perhaps only Shakespeare has stood so far ahead of his peers."
He was such a tough batsman to get out that a tabloid-screamer "HE'S OUT" was once used to convey the news.
Bradman's cricket skills don't provide real evidence of his importance in Australian history. During the Depression, writes Richard Begbie in The Canberra Times, "The young genius offered near certain hope each time he strode to the crease . . . The Don carried within himself the sense of our identity in other, perhaps deeper ways. In him we saw incarnate the belief that success was a matter of ability and self-confidence, not birth or class. Cricket, England's metaphor for all that was best in the British way, could be played and cheerfully won on their terms, when Bradman was with you."
Bradman was first rumored to have died last summer, during the Sydney Olympics. "Had it been true then, the strange nature of this occasion would have been brought into the sharpest focus," writes Matthew engel in The Guardian. "Australia is in mourning at the passing of its most famous citizen; the rest of the cricketing world shares its grief; the other three-quarters of the planet is ignorant. Had the focus been on Sydney for the Games, there would have been global bewilderment."
It's hard to imagine, in the U.S., what Bradman's death means to Australians. One prominent Brit, David Graveney, said that Bradman's death would "rock Australia to its foundations." A Sydney University anthropologist said that the impact would be similar to that of the deaths of Princess Diana and John Lennon. "You can't remember what you were doing before or even after but years later you remember the moment that you were informed of the death of the famous person," said the professor.
Bradman's death was also huge news in Britain and in India. The U.K.'s Daily Mail asked, perhaps rhetorically, "Was Bradman the greatest sports star of all time?" The Times of India called Bradman the "crucible of all cricketing values: integrity, chivalry, dedication, compassion and fraternity."
Bradman's funeral and memorial service will be separate events. The funeral will be a private affair, despite South Australia's offer of a state funeral. A public memorial service will be held in a few weeks, at night, and broadcast nationally on large video screens.
Bradman will be further honored through a special memorial fund to be used to support cricket in Aboriginal communities. Also, the Australia Post will place condolence books in all post offices. These will be given, later, to the Sir Donald Bradman Museum in his boyhood home of Bowral.
Bradman memorabilia are already increasing in value, but many of his signed items will have more sentimental than real value. "It was his stated policy that he would sign anything. He wished to dilute the currency by flooding the market with signatures," said Christie's consultant Robert Parsons.
More than any other Australian figure, it seems, the memories of Sir Donald Bradman are collective, rather than individual. Perhaps it is fitting, then, that his most treasured items -- his personal collection of balls, stumps, silk scorecards, blazers, photos, paintings, and posters -- are available in a public, government exhibit.
