THE BRADMAN ALBUMS

Sport is such an important part of our national identity that is hardly possible that a sportsperson can come along and transcend the sport they play. But it does happen … every generation or so, someone comes along with skills so finely tuned, that they change the game they play and forever become synonymous with that sport. More than that, their skills and attitudes come to symbolise that sport. For millions of people in Australia and around the world ‘The Don’ was Australian cricket.

Sir Donald Bradman was, beyond any argument, the greatest batsman who ever lived and the greatest cricketer of the 20th century. In that time, his reputation not merely as a player but as an administrator, selector, sage and cricketing statesman only increased. His contribution transcended sport; his exploits changed Australia’s relationship to what used to be called the “mother country”. Throughout the 1930s and 40s Bradman was the world’s master cricketer, so far ahead of everyone else that comparisons became pointless. In 1930, he scored 974 runs in the series, 309 of them in one amazing day at Headingley, and in seven Test series against England he remained a figure of utter dominance; Australia lost the Ashes only once, in 1932-33, when England were so spooked by Bradman that they devised a system of bowling, Bodyline, that history has damned as brutal and unfair, simply to thwart him. He still averaged 56 in the series.

The return of the best-selling albums featuring selections from the personal collection of the famed cricketer. Including rare personal photos, evocative action shots of great cricketing contests and exhaustive captions, match summaries and statistics, The Bradman Albums will introduce the iconic Australian legend to a new generation of fans.