Unpopular opinion: Bradman is not the greatest

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Today, we welcome the new writer Abhishek Ghan to join TFT. This is a brave debut. If it weren’t for Tang, who is/is the greatest ever?

Before we start, let me say that I am in awe of Don Bradman’s amazing statistics like everyone else. But it is important to make sure that the numbers do not explain all the facts.

Don Bradman has participated in all his international competitions in Australia or England. As we all know, these two countries are more able to help sealers than spinners. Therefore, Don Bradman’s skills as a batsman have never really been tested by this point. After all, when the conditions are not good for you and you have no family support, you really stand the test of being a player.

In Wisden’s ranking of top players of all time, Bradman is clearly the leader ahead of everyone else. But even though he plays on an uncovered court, Bradman’s average level of sticky wickets is not as impressive as on a normal court.

wicket I run Main street 100s the 50s 0 seconds
normal 65 6712 119.90 29 12 3
sticky 15 284 20.29 0 1 4

Nothing is said about Bradman’s performance against the spinner on the subcontinent. We have seen many players who average more than 45 points on the seam track struggling on the spinning wicket – Ricky Ponting, Graeme Smith, Adam Gilchrist, Desmond Haynes and many more.

In the Bradman era, the strongest party outside of Australia was England. No other cricket country is closer to these two aspects. For example, India in that era conducted 15 tests, of which they did not win, 10 failed, and 5 tests. Obviously, Bradman can only score when facing the opponent in front of him, but the subsequent great game must face a wider range of challenges and test their skills in different ways.

Except for the brief period surrounding the Bodyline series, fast bowling has never been so successful on uncovered courts. Most teams used to use two or even three spinners. Harold Larwood, the most successful fast bowler of that era, took part in 21 tests between 1926 and 1933, scoring an average of 78 wickets and scoring an average of 28.4. However, many critics consider him to be the best pacemaker of his generation. This just shows how unfair pitching is to fast bowlers.

Then there is the helmet problem. If not wearing a cover is a big disadvantage, shouldn’t it be reflected in the fast bowler’s record? Let’s take a look at the top 5 main ticket inspectors in the 1920s and 1930s:

Do not bowling Types of Meter week Main street SR 5 wireless 10 sago
1 Resume Grimmett (Australia) Leg spin 37 216 24.21 67.1 twenty one 7
2 MW Tate (England) Medium speed 39 155 26.16 80.7 7 1
3 H Verity (England) Slow left arm 40 144 24.37 77.5 5 2
4 WJ O’Reilly (Australia) Leg spin 26 136 23.68 72.8 10 3
5 AA Mailey (Australia) Leg spin twenty one 99 33.91 61.8 6 2

There is no fast bowler on this list! It must be difficult to hit an unmasked pitch with a fast bowler, but it is not as unplayable as many people think.

In short, there is absolutely no denying that Bradman is one of the greatest people. But is there really enough evidence that Bradman is the undisputed best hitter of all time?

Bradman’s average is amazing. But we should not write off subsequent cricketers in this debate just because their average is low.

Let the debate begin…

Abhishek Gan



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