Harsh Thakor
First Class Star
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- Oct 1, 2012
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No doubt Don Bradman is the greatest batsmen of them all.He is the equivalent of a creature from another planet.His statistics are so staggeringly ahead of anyone that it is more a question of who is Bradman's runner up.Statistically Bradman took cricketing achievement to the level Albert Einstein did as a scientist or Karl Marx as a political philosopher.He even acumulated his runs at a phenomenal pace.Bradman 's supremacy over any other batsmen has recahed heights unequalled in sport,in terms of achievements statistically.Don simply was simply like a computerized batting machine.-,being the icon amongst icons of batsmen.What was Bradman's virtue above everything was his mental strength and temperament.
However if we just do not throw light on mere statistics but ***** era,bowling attacks.state of pitches,strength of team played for then Bradman's average of 99.94 may not necessarily been an accurate reflection of how much superior he was to greats of other eras.In his own time George Headley outscored Bradman on wet wickets as well as Jack Hobbs while Stan Mcabe overshadowed him in the bodyline series.The Don also did not face the great West Indian quartet without a helmet like Gavaskar ,bore as much pressure as Tendulkar ,tore pace bowling as ferociously as Viv Richards and bore the brunt of weak batting team like Lara.Really difficult envisaging the Don averaging around 100 facing Marshall,Roberts,Holding and Garner together or even Wasim Waqar or Lillee-Thomson
.quoting cricinfo"By his own unique standards, Bradman was discomfited by Bodyline, the shameless method of attack which Douglas Jardine employed to depose him in Australia in 1932-33. Discomfited, yes - but he still averaged 56.57 in the Test series. If there really is a blemish on his amazing record it is, I suppose, the absence of a significant innings on one of those "sticky dogs" of old, when the ball was hissing and cavorting under a hot sun following heavy rain. This is not to say he couldn't have played one, but that on the big occasion, when the chance arose, he never did."
I also feel in the most testing situations in a crisis and in terms of longevity Bradman would not have equalled Jack Hobb's batting.Hobss could master the sticklers more than the Don and even his fifties could be more crucial.I also doubt the Don would have surpassed Tendulkar's longevity,Brian Lara's penchant for mammoth scores or Viv's ability to turn the complexion of games.In terms of pure genius or natural ability very marginally Victor Trumper or Rohan Kanhai would overshadow the Don, or maybe even Viv Richards and Lara.
The most valid question is morally Bradman on another plane from other batting greats or also had worthy contenders? No batsmen ever revealed as much superiority in his own era as Bradman and almost certainly no one ever will.However again remember even in Bradman's time there were players who had arguably as much ability and in difficult situation seven overshadowed the batting god.The best innings rated by Wisden in cricket was not by Bradman and arguably in a total package of 5 best innings of a great batsmen the performances of Viv Richards or Brian Lara were on par if not better.
Personally I back Bradman to average around 75 today ,possibly 55 + in O.D.I's and top averages in t-20 cricket.However in the era of Gavaskar and Viv Richards when helmets were non-existent I doubt Bradman would have averaged more than 70.I do not think Bradman would have surpassed Viv Richard's strike rate or Gavaskar's resilience against great bowling.I also back Viv to marginally overshadow Bradman in O.D.I.cricket. I also do not back Bradman averaging more than 70 batting in place of Tendulkar and Lara.I doubt still that Bradman at his bet would have surpassed the creative genius and mastery of Tendulkar,even if he hypothetically averaged around 15 runs more.This fact illustrates that it is not only about bating average but performances on bad wickets or in a crisis.Bradman also was not tested on the turning sub-continent tracks.
What really set Bradman apart was his phenomenal mental strength and depths of concentration and will to succeed.No sportsman ever proved the fast the success in sport is about strength in the mind.Bradman was not arguably as technically as correct as Len Hutton,as naturally talented as Victor Trumper or Rohan Kanhai,as savage as Viv Richards, Sehwag or A.B.Devilliers or as artistic as Dennis Compton or Mohammad Azharrudin but in a total package he was head and shoulders above them all.
QUOTES ON PLAYERS WHO COMPARED WITH BRADMAN
STAN MCABE
Quoting Wisden Cricketers Alamnack "Bradman himself was of the opinion that there were other batsmen, contemporaries of his, who had the talent to be just as prolific as he was but lacked the concentration. Stan McCabe, who needed a particular challenge to bring the best of him, was no doubt one of them. "I wish I could bat like that", Bradman's assessment of McCabe's 232 in the Trent Bridge Test of 1938, must stand with W.G.'s "Give me Arthur" [Shrewsbury], when asked to name the best batsman he had played with, as the grandest tribute ever paid by one great cricketer to another."
Trumper shared his Test debut with another great of the era, Wilfred Rhodes. Ages later when Rhodes was asked about the greatest batsman who he came up against, he responded, “There was only one. Victor Trumper.”
VICTOR TRUMPER
Australian frontline off-break bowler Hugh Trumble was unequivocal in his verdict, “Trumper stands alone as the best batsman of all time.”
Even after Don Bradman had revamped the landscape of the game to make the milestones unrecognisable, there were many who still put Trumper above him as the greatest batsman of all time.
CB Fry was not much behind his wife in admiration of the man. He observed in the 1930s: “No matter how many runs Bradman makes, Vic Trumper’s name comes up time and again, and his great deeds are discussed. He took a hold on the hearts and minds of the people in England as no other batsman has done.”
In January 1947, Lock Walmsley, president of the Sydney Musician’s club, passed away. Walmsley, who was from a very old cricketing family, recorded his last will and testament on gramophone disc, and in it he stated, “I would like to record for posterity that Victor Trumper was the best batsman of the lot.”
GEORGE HEADLEY
Quoting King Piterson ob planet cricket blog "Unlike Sir Donald Bradman, Headley did not have a line-up of fantastic batsmen. Bradman did not have that fear of failure, as he had guys like Ponsford, Woodfull, Kippax, Jackson and McGabe who were all more than capable of making big scores. George Headley was a 1 man batting line-up, hence his nickname 'Atlas' as he did carry the West Indian side. Proof of Headley's dominance is the fact that of the first 14 Test centuries from West Indian's, Headley made 10 of them."
"Headley was also a fantastic player on wet wickets. In his innings on such wickets he made 5 half centuries, compared with Bradman, who struggled, making only 1 half century on wet wickets. Headley was regarded as the greatest player of wet wickets, an incredible compliment considering the likes of Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Hammond and later Hutton were so good on those types of wickets."
JACK HOBBS
Jack Hobbs sustained his stellar performance for a marathon 30 years. In winning causes he averaged in excess of 96. Warwickshire all-rounder Bob Wyatt once said that considering the art of batsmanship on every department, Hobbs was better than Bradman. He went on to say, that during Jack Hobbs peak, it was impossible to stop him on any wicket whereas Bradman, whenever he came across a sticky wicket was in shambles.
Bert Oldfield, an Australian wicket keeper when speaking about Jack Hobbs stated that under all types of conditions, on fast, rain-affected or crumbling wickets, against the swinging ball or the turning old ball, Jack Hobbs was the cleverest batsman he had ever seen.
Sir Geoff Boycott pontificated that on all kinds of pitches, Jacks Hobbs was the best the world has ever seen.
SACHIN TENDULKAR
Former New Zealand all-rounder Richard Hadlee believes Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest batsman ever to grace the game. Hadlee, 57, who became the first official inductee to ICC's Hall of Fame on the first day of the Wellington Test, said he was in awe of Tendulkar whose achievements down the years "clearly had been phenomenal".
"I played against Sachin on his tour here in 1990 when he got that 80 or 90-odd at McLean Park in Napier," Hadlee told PTI. "You could see then, as a youngster, he was a player of immense ability and talent.
"We didn't see at that time and you cannot visualise 20 years down the track what the player is likely to do in the context of the history of the game. When you score as many runs as he has in Test and one-day cricket and score as many centuries and half centuries as he has done, it makes him arguably the greatest player ever in the history of the game. Statistics speak volumes of his contribution to Indian and world cricket. He is a phenomenal player."
Hadlee said comparisons with Donald Bradman should also drive Tendulkar as a player. "Well, Sir Donald Bradman has been regarded as the greatest player ever," Hadlee said. "He played just Test cricket. He hasn't played any other forms of the game. Clearly, that is understandable. But to see Sachin and other players actually adjust to different forms of the game and different conditions all around the world, even though the average is fractionally more than half of the Don's is in itself incredible. You got to respect it and write those performances."
VIV RICHARDS
http://sport.independent.co.uk/cricket/article3289163.ece
Dr.Rowland "I regard him as the best player who ever played cricket. Bradman got all therecords, but I wonder if Bradman could have adjusted to 20-, 40-, 50-overcricket as well as Test matches? When you look at footage from the 1930s,there's no science about the field placings. They were the same when thebatsman arrived at the crease as they were when he'd scored 300. ObviouslyBradman was an exceptional talent, but I find it hard to comprehend anyoneever being better than Viv."
ROHAN KANHAI
The great writer CLR James said, “Kanhai had found his way into regions Bradman never knew. It was not only the technical skill and strategic generalship that made the innings the most noteworthy I have seen. There was more to it, to be seen as well as felt. Bradman was a ruthless executioner of bowlers. All through this demanding innings Kanhai grinned with a grin that could be seen a mile away.”
However if we just do not throw light on mere statistics but ***** era,bowling attacks.state of pitches,strength of team played for then Bradman's average of 99.94 may not necessarily been an accurate reflection of how much superior he was to greats of other eras.In his own time George Headley outscored Bradman on wet wickets as well as Jack Hobbs while Stan Mcabe overshadowed him in the bodyline series.The Don also did not face the great West Indian quartet without a helmet like Gavaskar ,bore as much pressure as Tendulkar ,tore pace bowling as ferociously as Viv Richards and bore the brunt of weak batting team like Lara.Really difficult envisaging the Don averaging around 100 facing Marshall,Roberts,Holding and Garner together or even Wasim Waqar or Lillee-Thomson
.quoting cricinfo"By his own unique standards, Bradman was discomfited by Bodyline, the shameless method of attack which Douglas Jardine employed to depose him in Australia in 1932-33. Discomfited, yes - but he still averaged 56.57 in the Test series. If there really is a blemish on his amazing record it is, I suppose, the absence of a significant innings on one of those "sticky dogs" of old, when the ball was hissing and cavorting under a hot sun following heavy rain. This is not to say he couldn't have played one, but that on the big occasion, when the chance arose, he never did."
I also feel in the most testing situations in a crisis and in terms of longevity Bradman would not have equalled Jack Hobb's batting.Hobss could master the sticklers more than the Don and even his fifties could be more crucial.I also doubt the Don would have surpassed Tendulkar's longevity,Brian Lara's penchant for mammoth scores or Viv's ability to turn the complexion of games.In terms of pure genius or natural ability very marginally Victor Trumper or Rohan Kanhai would overshadow the Don, or maybe even Viv Richards and Lara.
The most valid question is morally Bradman on another plane from other batting greats or also had worthy contenders? No batsmen ever revealed as much superiority in his own era as Bradman and almost certainly no one ever will.However again remember even in Bradman's time there were players who had arguably as much ability and in difficult situation seven overshadowed the batting god.The best innings rated by Wisden in cricket was not by Bradman and arguably in a total package of 5 best innings of a great batsmen the performances of Viv Richards or Brian Lara were on par if not better.
Personally I back Bradman to average around 75 today ,possibly 55 + in O.D.I's and top averages in t-20 cricket.However in the era of Gavaskar and Viv Richards when helmets were non-existent I doubt Bradman would have averaged more than 70.I do not think Bradman would have surpassed Viv Richard's strike rate or Gavaskar's resilience against great bowling.I also back Viv to marginally overshadow Bradman in O.D.I.cricket. I also do not back Bradman averaging more than 70 batting in place of Tendulkar and Lara.I doubt still that Bradman at his bet would have surpassed the creative genius and mastery of Tendulkar,even if he hypothetically averaged around 15 runs more.This fact illustrates that it is not only about bating average but performances on bad wickets or in a crisis.Bradman also was not tested on the turning sub-continent tracks.
What really set Bradman apart was his phenomenal mental strength and depths of concentration and will to succeed.No sportsman ever proved the fast the success in sport is about strength in the mind.Bradman was not arguably as technically as correct as Len Hutton,as naturally talented as Victor Trumper or Rohan Kanhai,as savage as Viv Richards, Sehwag or A.B.Devilliers or as artistic as Dennis Compton or Mohammad Azharrudin but in a total package he was head and shoulders above them all.
QUOTES ON PLAYERS WHO COMPARED WITH BRADMAN
STAN MCABE
Quoting Wisden Cricketers Alamnack "Bradman himself was of the opinion that there were other batsmen, contemporaries of his, who had the talent to be just as prolific as he was but lacked the concentration. Stan McCabe, who needed a particular challenge to bring the best of him, was no doubt one of them. "I wish I could bat like that", Bradman's assessment of McCabe's 232 in the Trent Bridge Test of 1938, must stand with W.G.'s "Give me Arthur" [Shrewsbury], when asked to name the best batsman he had played with, as the grandest tribute ever paid by one great cricketer to another."
Trumper shared his Test debut with another great of the era, Wilfred Rhodes. Ages later when Rhodes was asked about the greatest batsman who he came up against, he responded, “There was only one. Victor Trumper.”
VICTOR TRUMPER
Australian frontline off-break bowler Hugh Trumble was unequivocal in his verdict, “Trumper stands alone as the best batsman of all time.”
Even after Don Bradman had revamped the landscape of the game to make the milestones unrecognisable, there were many who still put Trumper above him as the greatest batsman of all time.
CB Fry was not much behind his wife in admiration of the man. He observed in the 1930s: “No matter how many runs Bradman makes, Vic Trumper’s name comes up time and again, and his great deeds are discussed. He took a hold on the hearts and minds of the people in England as no other batsman has done.”
In January 1947, Lock Walmsley, president of the Sydney Musician’s club, passed away. Walmsley, who was from a very old cricketing family, recorded his last will and testament on gramophone disc, and in it he stated, “I would like to record for posterity that Victor Trumper was the best batsman of the lot.”
GEORGE HEADLEY
Quoting King Piterson ob planet cricket blog "Unlike Sir Donald Bradman, Headley did not have a line-up of fantastic batsmen. Bradman did not have that fear of failure, as he had guys like Ponsford, Woodfull, Kippax, Jackson and McGabe who were all more than capable of making big scores. George Headley was a 1 man batting line-up, hence his nickname 'Atlas' as he did carry the West Indian side. Proof of Headley's dominance is the fact that of the first 14 Test centuries from West Indian's, Headley made 10 of them."
"Headley was also a fantastic player on wet wickets. In his innings on such wickets he made 5 half centuries, compared with Bradman, who struggled, making only 1 half century on wet wickets. Headley was regarded as the greatest player of wet wickets, an incredible compliment considering the likes of Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Hammond and later Hutton were so good on those types of wickets."
JACK HOBBS
Jack Hobbs sustained his stellar performance for a marathon 30 years. In winning causes he averaged in excess of 96. Warwickshire all-rounder Bob Wyatt once said that considering the art of batsmanship on every department, Hobbs was better than Bradman. He went on to say, that during Jack Hobbs peak, it was impossible to stop him on any wicket whereas Bradman, whenever he came across a sticky wicket was in shambles.
Bert Oldfield, an Australian wicket keeper when speaking about Jack Hobbs stated that under all types of conditions, on fast, rain-affected or crumbling wickets, against the swinging ball or the turning old ball, Jack Hobbs was the cleverest batsman he had ever seen.
Sir Geoff Boycott pontificated that on all kinds of pitches, Jacks Hobbs was the best the world has ever seen.
SACHIN TENDULKAR
Former New Zealand all-rounder Richard Hadlee believes Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest batsman ever to grace the game. Hadlee, 57, who became the first official inductee to ICC's Hall of Fame on the first day of the Wellington Test, said he was in awe of Tendulkar whose achievements down the years "clearly had been phenomenal".
"I played against Sachin on his tour here in 1990 when he got that 80 or 90-odd at McLean Park in Napier," Hadlee told PTI. "You could see then, as a youngster, he was a player of immense ability and talent.
"We didn't see at that time and you cannot visualise 20 years down the track what the player is likely to do in the context of the history of the game. When you score as many runs as he has in Test and one-day cricket and score as many centuries and half centuries as he has done, it makes him arguably the greatest player ever in the history of the game. Statistics speak volumes of his contribution to Indian and world cricket. He is a phenomenal player."
Hadlee said comparisons with Donald Bradman should also drive Tendulkar as a player. "Well, Sir Donald Bradman has been regarded as the greatest player ever," Hadlee said. "He played just Test cricket. He hasn't played any other forms of the game. Clearly, that is understandable. But to see Sachin and other players actually adjust to different forms of the game and different conditions all around the world, even though the average is fractionally more than half of the Don's is in itself incredible. You got to respect it and write those performances."
VIV RICHARDS
http://sport.independent.co.uk/cricket/article3289163.ece
Dr.Rowland "I regard him as the best player who ever played cricket. Bradman got all therecords, but I wonder if Bradman could have adjusted to 20-, 40-, 50-overcricket as well as Test matches? When you look at footage from the 1930s,there's no science about the field placings. They were the same when thebatsman arrived at the crease as they were when he'd scored 300. ObviouslyBradman was an exceptional talent, but I find it hard to comprehend anyoneever being better than Viv."
ROHAN KANHAI
The great writer CLR James said, “Kanhai had found his way into regions Bradman never knew. It was not only the technical skill and strategic generalship that made the innings the most noteworthy I have seen. There was more to it, to be seen as well as felt. Bradman was a ruthless executioner of bowlers. All through this demanding innings Kanhai grinned with a grin that could be seen a mile away.”
