[2] He spent his childhood living in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, attending Faulconbridge Primary and Springwood High School.

[5] Bracken contested the Australian House of Representatives seat of Dobell as an independent against sitting member Craig Thomson at the 2013 federal election and received an 8.2 percent primary vote.

After a stint at the Australian Cricket Academy in 1997, Bracken made his first-class debut for New South Wales against Queensland on 27 October 1998 at Manuka Oval, Canberra.

[16] The season contained a number of memorable performances by Bracken including a phenomenal spell of 7/4 off 7 overs to help dismiss South Australia for a mere 29 runs at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 2 December 2004.

[21] After a Man of the Match performance against Queensland in the semi-final of the Mercantile Mutual Cup,[22] Bracken was selected in the New South Wales team to meet Victoria in the final in only his 5th List A game.

[24] He continued his good form into the 2001–02 season, helping New South Wales claim their second consecutive One Day title, this time over Queensland.

[30][31] International commitments left Bracken out of the side for a large majority of the 2005–06 One Day season, however he performed well in his limited appearances, claiming 5 wickets at 21.60.

[33][34] Bracken made his Test debut for Australia on 4 December 2003 against India in the Border–Gavaskar Trophy as a replacement for the injured Glenn McGrath.

[36] The selectors chose Bracken ahead of Andrew Bichel for the final two Tests and in a drawn series that saw most bowlers struggle, he finished with 6 wickets at 58.50.

[38] Despite this good all-round performance, leg spinner Stuart MacGill was favoured by the selectors for the remaining Tests in the series.

In December 2005, Bracken played the 1st Test against South Africa at the WACA Ground before once again being dropped in favour of Stuart MacGill.

[39] Bracken is considered unlucky by many for his lack of Test starts given his one-day form – leading to comparisons with Michael Bevan.

Although putting in respectable performances with the ball, he could not manage an assured place in the side due to both injuries and the strength of the Australian team.

[40] However, after Jason Gillespie was dropped from the national side, Bracken returned for the 2005 ICC Super Series against the World XI.

In the record-breaking fifth ODI during Australia's Tour of South Africa in 2006, Bracken achieved his maiden 5 wicket haul, taking 5–67 off 10 overs.

[47] He finished with 174 ODI wickets at an average of 24.36 and proved to be a vital member of the Australian One Day International side during his career.