T h e B r a d m a n C o l l e c t i o n

“Sir Donald Bradman is regarded by many as the greatest batsman in the history of cricket and was one of Aus-tralia’s most revered sporting personalities”

Notes for teachers

These pages can be used as a springboard for discussion after

a tour of the Bradman Collection or as activity sheets in class.

By following the career of Sir Donald Bradman, students can

examine an aspect of Australian life from the depression years

to the Second World War, exploring Australia’s national identity

and how it is reflected in the sporting arena.

Although these learning pages

reflect the SACSA framework

for Years 10-11 Society and

Environment and English

and cover the Essential

Learning areas of

Identity, Thinking and

Communication, they can

be adapted to suit lower

secondary learning outcomes.

T h e B r a d m a n C o l l e c t i o nRead the brief biography of Sir Donald Bradman on the Bradman

Digital Library (www.slsa.sa.gov.au/bradman/thomasbio.htm ) to

answer the following:

1. What activity did the young Donald do that might have contrib-

uted to his batting technique?

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2. Where did Bradman make his first century? How old was he?

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3. When did Don Bradman first become captain the Australian

cricket team?

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T h e B r a d m a n C o l l e c t i o nThe Sheffield Shield matches marked Bradman’s debut in first class

cricket and where his outstanding talents as a batsman were first ac-

knowledged. The match between NSW and QLD saw Bradman smash

the previous record held by Bill Ponsford of 437. Bradman scored an

amazing 452 in just 415 minutes of play. Altogether he made a total

of 1000 runs for the season and was thereafter referred to as “the run

making machine.”

4. Read the newspaper report of the Sheffield Shield match between

NSW and QLD from the Sydney Morning Herald January 6, 1930.

5. Rewrite in your own words how Bradman played and took the NSW

team to victory. Note the language used by journalists to describe

Bradman’s achievements on the oval and what words are used to con-

vey emotion and excitement. Write your article in a similar manner to

capture the feeling of the day, but in a style modern day readers would

respond to.

Sir Donald Bradman travelled to England with the Australian cricket

team when Australia challenged England for the Ashes in 1930.

6. What are the Ashes?

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7. How often do England and Australia play for the Ashes?

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T h e B r a d m a n C o l l e c t i o n8. Using these weblinks and other resources in your library, research the

story behind the Ashes tradition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ashes

http://www.334notout.com/ashes/reports/report6.htm

9. How many times has Australia won the Ashes?

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T h e B r a d m a n C o l l e c t i o nThe 1933 Test series, England versus Australia, became known as the

Bodyline Series. The captain of the English team, Douglas Jardine

used a particular tactic designed to unseat Bradman’s spectacular

record.

1. What tactic did the captain of the English team use? Describe

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2. Was it successful? Why?

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3. What was the reaction of the Australian spectators?

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T h e B r a d m a n C o l l e c t i o nJardine and the English bowlers continued their strategy in Adelaide

during the summer of 1933 and caused a sensation in the cricketing

world. Commenting on what was happening on the oval, the captain of

the Australian team, Bill Woodfall, remarked:

“There are two teams out there. One of them is playing cricket and the

other is making no attempt to do so.”

4. What do you think was meant by that remark?

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Australia in the 1930s was looking for a national hero.

Times were bleak, the world was in the grip of the great

Depression and Bradman raised the spirits and the

hopes of a nation. Donald Bradman, the boy from

Bowral, rose from obscurity to widespread acclaim.

Douglas Jardine on the other hand was the son of well to

do parents who paraded himself on the oval and flamboyantly went

into bat wearing a harlequin cap and a silk choker. His manner stood

in sharp contrast to that of the Australian team who were by and large

sons of working class men. The game was shaping up to be more than

just a sporting match between the two countries. Jardine saw himself

as defender of the British Empire against a renegade colony trying

to beat England at its own game. So, when Douglas Jardine devised

his plan to bring Bradman down, Australians saw it as an attack on

themselves.

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T h e B r a d m a n C o l l e c t i o nThe headline for the Advertiser January – 1931 read “Bradman versus

England”

5. What does that headline say to you about Australia’s relationship with

England at that time?

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6. You are a spectator at Adelaide Oval and witnessed the bodyline

match. Describe your reaction to the events on the oval and the reaction

of the crowd in a letter to the Advertiser.

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7. Sir Don tells young cricketers to play for the love of the game. Given

that Sir Donald played during cricket’s most controversial years, what

does this say about his attitude towards the sport?

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T h e B r a d m a n C o l l e c t i o nIn 1948 the Australian cricket team, with Bradman as their captain,

sailed to England to play for the Ashes. They won every match they

played and returned to Australia in triumph. They have gone down in

history as being the greatest sporting team in Australia. At age 40, it

was Bradman’s last tour and a fitting end to his career.

8. What records were made during that tour that earned the Australian

team their name?

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T h e B r a d m a n C o l l e c t i o nLike most heroes, Sir Donald Bradman has been immortalized in song.

Jack O’Hagan penned ‘Our Don Bradman” in 1930 when the Bradman

phenomenon first took off. John Williamson wrote and sang “Sir Don”

for Bradman’s funeral in 2001. The name Bradman has become syn-

onymous with cricket and Sir Donald Bradman has become an Austra-

lian icon. His batting record remains unsurpassed to this day and he is

renowned as the world’s greatest cricketer.

Singer-songwriter Paul Kelly in his song ‘Bradman” describes Brad-

man as “more than just a batsman, he was something like the tide”.

9. In the light of what you have learned about Sir Donald Bradman and

his life and times, write down your thoughts on whether or not you think

the words of Paul Kelly’s song describe Bradman’s cricketing career.

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T h e B r a d m a n C o l l e c t i o nFollow these links for further information on Sir Donald Bradman’s

career.

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Bradman

- http://www.abc.net.au/btn/australians/bradman.htm

- http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/donbradman/

For further information on Sir Donald Bradman refer to:

- Our Don Bradman. Edited by Philip Derriman, Sydney,ABC Books

2001

- Farewell to Bradman: selected writings on the life and times of the

world’s greatest cricketer. Edited by Peter Allen, Sydney, Pan Macmil-

lian, 2001

- Bodyline (DVD)

- The Invincibles (Videorecording)

- The Bradman Digital Library, State Library of South Australia :

http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/bradman/

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