Sir Donald George Bradman AC (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time.

[10] Following an enforced hiatus due to the Second World War, he made a dramatic comeback, captaining an Australian team known as "The Invincibles" on a record-breaking unbeaten tour of England.

A complex and highly driven man, not given to close personal relationships,[11] Bradman retained a pre-eminent position in the game by acting as an administrator, selector and writer for three decades following his retirement.

Bradman completed the season with 1,690 first-class runs, averaging 93.88,[38] and his first multiple century in a Sheffield Shield match, not out against Victoria, set a new ground record for the SCG.

During an innings stretching over three days due to intermittent rain, Bradman made yet another multiple century, this time 232, which helped give Australia a big lead of 290 runs.

In a crucial partnership with Jackson, Bradman battled through a difficult session when England fast bowler Harold Larwood bowled short on a pitch enlivened by the rain.

[11] Mick Simmons wanted to cash in on their employee's newly won fame, asking Bradman to leave his teammates and attend official receptions they organised in Adelaide, Melbourne, Goulburn, his hometown of Bowral and Sydney, where he received a brand new custom-built Chevrolet.

[64] Between these two seasons, Bradman seriously contemplated playing professional cricket in England with the Lancashire League club Accrington, a move that, according to the rules of the day, would have ended his Test career.

They devised a two-year contract whereby Bradman wrote for Associated Newspapers, broadcast on Radio 2UE and promoted the menswear retailing chain FJ Palmer and Son.

[24] Bradman had other problems to deal with at this time; among these were bouts of illness from an undiagnosed malaise which had begun during the tour of North America,[72] and that the Australian Board of Control had initially refused permission for him to write a column for the Sydney Sun newspaper.

Always seeking to score, and with the leg side packed with fielders, he often backed away and hit the ball into the vacant half of the outfield with unorthodox shots reminiscent of tennis or golf.

Bodyline plucked something vibrant from his art.The constant glare of celebrity and the tribulations of the season forced Bradman to reappraise his life outside the game and to seek a career away from his cricketing fame.

Indeed at one period he created the impression that, to some extent, he had lost control of himself and went in to bat with an almost complete disregard for anything in the shape of a defensive stroke.At one stage, Bradman went thirteen first-class innings without a century, the longest such spell of his career,[86] prompting suggestions that Bodyline had eroded his confidence and altered his technique.

That evening, Bradman declined an invitation to dinner from Neville Cardus, telling the journalist that he wanted an early night because the team needed him to make a double century the next day.

[118] For the only time in his life, the tension of the occasion got to Bradman and he could not watch the closing stages of play, a reflection of the pressure that he felt all tour: he described the captaincy as "exhausting" and said he "found it difficult to keep going".

[119] With Bradman injured and Fingleton unable to bat because of a leg muscle strain,[119][121] Australia were thrashed by an innings and 579 runs, which remains the largest margin in Test cricket history.

[132] Invalided out of service in June 1941, Bradman spent months recuperating, unable even to shave himself or comb his hair due to the extent of the muscular pain he suffered.

Although he found some relief in 1945 when referred to the Melbourne masseur Ern Saunders, Bradman permanently lost the feeling in the thumb and index finger of his (dominant) right hand.

[145] At the end of the over, England captain Wally Hammond spoke with Bradman and criticised him for not "walking"; "from then on the series was a cricketing war just when most people desired peace", Whitington wrote.

Often, especially at the start of the innings, he played where the ball wasn't, and spectators rubbed their eyes.Despite his waning powers, Bradman compiled 11 centuries on the tour, amassing 2,428 runs (average 89.92).

A team of cricketers whose respect and loyalty were unquestioned, who would regard me in a fatherly sense and listen to my advice, follow my guidance and not question my handling of affairs...there are no longer any fears that they will query the wisdom of what you do.

The result is a sense of freedom to give full reign to your own creative ability and personal judgment.With Bradman now retired from professional cricket, RC Robertson-Glasgow wrote of the English reaction "... a miracle has been removed from among us.

He favoured "horizontal-bat" shots (such as the hook, pull and cut) to deal with the bounce and devised a unique grip on the bat handle that would accommodate these strokes without compromising his ability to defend.

Public polls from the time suggested that, despite a group of very active protestors, around 75% of Australians wanted the tour to go ahead – believing that Australia should not interfere with South Africa's domestic politics.

He expressed the view that white South African cricketers, many of whom had voiced their opposition to Apartheid and "had tried harder than our [Australian] protestors to do something about it", should not be punished for the decisions of their national government.

[246] A private service for family and friends was earlier held at the Centennial Park Cemetery in the suburb of Pasadena, with many people lining both Greenhill and Goodwood Roads to pay their respects as his funeral motorcade passed by.

Cricket writer David Frith summed up the paradox of the continuing fascination with Bradman:[247] As the years passed, with no lessening of his reclusiveness, so his public stature continued to grow, until the sense of reverence and unquestioning worship left many of his contemporaries scratching their heads in wondering admiration.Although modest about his own abilities and generous in his praise of other cricketers, Bradman was fully aware of the talents he possessed as a player;[248] there is some evidence that he sought to influence his legacy.

[249] During the 1980s and 1990s, Bradman carefully selected the people to whom he gave interviews,[249] assisting Michael Page, Roland Perry and Charles Williams, who all produced biographical works about him.

[290] In 2017, Nick Bradman appeared on the front cover of the Australian newspaper The Advertiser, after attaining a university entrance score of 99.95 (eclipsing his grandfather's batting average of 99.94).

[309] Other entities with similar protection include the Australian and foreign governments, Saint Mary MacKillop, the Royal Family, and the Returned and Services League of Australia.