‘Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, if Clarke can’t Cook must’.

That is the kind of spirit with which the supporters of both the teams have been converging on the grounds for The Ashes Tests in this five-match series which stands level at 1-1. England beat Australia comprehensively in the first Test but the hard-nosed Aussies bounced backed superbly to crush England at Lord’s by a thumping margin of 405 runs.

The third Test begins at Edgbaston today and thousands will surely throng the stadium to see which team emerges as the better side this time.

The Australian supporters in their team’s colours are all around in groups led by former greats like Kim Hughes and Keith Stackpole backing their men.

For the Australian it is no doubt sacrilege not to mention the deeds of the legendary Sir Don Bradman when a series like this is on whether played here or at home.

‘The Don’, as he was dubbed, was a unique sportsman and if he had not played cricket, he would have been as good at any sport like golf, rugby or billiard.

In 52 Tests he averaged 99.94. Had he scored four more runs in his last Test innings in 1948 at The Oval where he was bowled for a duck on the second delivery he faced he would have had an incredible average of 100 runs per innings. That proves to all of us that he was a mortal too.

On his first tour to England in 1930 he scored a record 957 runs with 254 at Lord’s and a triple century (309) in a day at Headingley. By the time he ended his twenty-year Test career in 1948, he had scored 6,996 runs with 29 hundreds in 52 Tests, hitting only six sixes in those Tests.

He played 37 Tests against arch-rivals England in which he made 5,028 runs at an average of 89.78 with 19 centuries.

Recently, when the explosive West Indian batsman Chris Gayle hammered a 30-ball hundred for the Pune Warriors in the IPL, I recalled yet another unique feat of Bradman who in a village match in Australia smashed a century in three eight-ball overs playing for Blackheath against Lithgow in New South Wales.

He was invited along with his NSW team-mate Oscar Wendell Bill to play in the inauguration of a new concrete pitch at Lithgow.

In the first over bowled by Bill Black, Bradman hit 33 runs. In the second over he clouted another bowler for 40 runs and in the third over Wendell Bill took a single and then Bradman hit two sixes and a single which was followed by another single by Wendell. Bradman then hit two more fours and a six, scoring 27 of the 29 runs scored in that over. His century had come in 18 minutes off 22 deliveries.

In his most famous book Farewell to Cricket, the Don has given a ball by ball account of his incredible power hitting which is how it was:

First over; 66424461; Second over: 64466464; Third over: 1* 6611446 ( denotes runs scored by Wendell).

The bat with which the Don scored those runs was used by him a lot in first-class games till it cracked and was presented to Peter Sutton, the mayor of Lithgow against whom he had scored that hundred. It passed hands many times and now rests in Bradman Foundation.

Despite all the power hitting in the modern day game and the bats that are used like sledgehammer, it is hard to believe if anyone will ever be able to match the kind of performance Sir Don had shown on the cricket field.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play