Sir Donald Bradman aged 92 years

Born 27th August, 1908 - Died February 25th, 2001

On November 30th 1928, the 19-year-old Don Bradman made his debut for Australia at Brisbane's Exhibition Ground. He made just 18 in his first innings and England won the Test by 675 runs, going on to take the series 3-1, despite two centuries from the young Bradman in the following matches. Revenge was sweet for Bradman. He next faced the English on tour in 1930 and his aggregate of 974 runs - including 254 at Lord's, 334 at Headingley and 232 at The Oval - is by far the highest in a Test series to this day. It was then obvious to the world, as Australia swept to 2-1 Ashes win, that this was a new batting phenomenon.

Bradman preferred batting in England because the light was softer and the turf more yielding than at home. He made 19 hundreds against England between 1928 and 1948, including two triple centuries and 6 double centuries. On the infamous MCC tour to Australia of 1932/33, captain Douglas Jardine's bodyline tactics were devised to counter Bradman and succeeded in lowering his average from 139 to 56. Bradman was Australia's captain between 1936 and 1948, during which time his side won 11 Tests, to England's three. He retained the Ashes through 4 series.

Probably the best batsman to have played the modern game, The Don was a relentless accumulator of runs, often at a rapid rate, with a career average of 42 runs an hour. He had the nimblest of feet and swift reflexes. Proficient with all strokes, his best scoring stroke was the pull, played all along the ground between mid on to backward square leg. He was an excellent fielder, particularly in the covers, and a decent bowler of leg breaks.

The Adelaide native's statistics speak for themselves. His total of 29 Test hundreds has been exceeded only by Sunil Gavaskar, who played nearly three times as many innings. His batting average is far higher than any batsman with more than the regulation 20 innings to his name and he is the only man who has scored over 300 Test runs in a day. His Test record was such that he needed to score only 4 in his last ever innings for a career average of 100 but, in the final match of the 1948 England tour, he was bowled by Eric Hollies second ball for a duck and ended on 99.94.

Bradman was knighted for services to cricket immediately following his retirement in 1949, and appointed Commander of the Order of Australia (AC) 1979 but, as the years advanced, he retired from public life, becoming somewhat of a recluse. On his 90th birthday, when 1,300 - including Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar - sat down to a dinner in Adelaide in aid of Bradman's favourite charities, he dined quietly a mile or two away, at home with his family.