Don Bradman's Cricket Records

The cricketing world remembered Sir Donald Bradman, its greatest ever batsman on his centenary very recently.

Much has been written about Sir Donald during his career, and probably even more has been written since his retirement from test cricket in 1948. However, his impact and influence on the game can probably best be summed up by a simple comparison of his batting average and those who come closest to approaching it.

Sir Donald averaged 99.94 in test matches and the next best are three players each averaging just a fraction over 60 - R G Pollock (SAF, 60.97), G A Headley (WIN, 60.83) and H Sutcliffe (ENG, 60.73). Highest Batting Averages

Set out below are some Sir Donald's major achievements.

First Class Career Record

M Inns NO 100s HS Runs Avg

234 338 43 117 *452 28,067 95.14

Sheffield Shield Record

In Australia's domestic competition, then the Sheffield Shield, Sir Donald played for New South Wales from 1927/28 to 1933/34 and for South Australia from 1935/36 to 1948/49. He scored a century on debut (118 - New South Wales v South Australia, Adelaide Oval 1927/28), and still holds the record for the highest first class innings in Australia, 452 not out for New South Wales v Queensland, in Sydney 1929/30

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M Inns NO 50s 100s HS Runs Avg

62 96 15 20 36 *452 8,926 110.19

Test Career Record

Sir Donald's test career batting statistics are unique, and an analysis of his batting broken down by opponent is given below.

Versus M Inns NO 50s 100s HS Runs Avg Ca St

England 37 63 7 12 19 334 5028 89.79 20 0

India 5 6 2 1 4 201 715 178.75 6 0

South Africa 5 5 1 0 4 *299 806 201.50 2 0

West Indies 5 6 0 0 2 223 447 74.50 4 0

Overall 52 80 10 13 29 334 6996 99.94 32 0

Bradman's batting average exceeded 100 on five grounds.

His batting average exceeded 100 in 7 of the 13 Calendar years in which he played.

His batting statistics, average 103.63, at No 3 in the batting order, undoubtedly make him the best ever in that position.

He scored 29 centuries from 80 innings, (36.25%) The next highest was 25.00% Highest Hundreds per Innnings Percentage. He scored 12 double centuries. The next highest is 7 Most Double Hundreds. He was the only player to score 2 triple centuries. (334 & 304), and was only 1 run from making it 3 (299* v SAF ), Virender Sehwag recently matched the Don with two triple centuries.

On 3 occasions he scored 4 centuries in a series. 1930 v England, 1931-32 v South Africa, and 1947-48 v India. He scored centuries in 6 consecutive matches from 01/01/1937, and scored centuries in 4 consecutive matches on 2 other occasions Hundreds in Consecutive Matches.

He has scored the most double centuries in a series. 3 against England in 1930 Most Double Centuries in Series. He scored a century in each innings (132 & 127 not out) against India at the MCG in 1948. Hundred in Both Innings and scored a century and a duck in the same match on 2 occasions.

Sir Donald holds the record for the highest score for a player batting at number 5 in the batting order (304) as well as the record for the highest score for a player batting at number 7 in the batting order (270) Highest Innings for Each Batting Position.

He holds the record for the most runs scored in a 5 Test series (947 v England in 1930) Highest Series Aggregates. He holds the record for the highest Test inning against South Africa (299 n.o. Adelaide Oval in 1932). He has 5 scores exceeding 250 runs Highest Individual Innings.

He holds the record for the highest Test innings at 4 Grounds.

299 not out Adelaide Oval

223 Exhibition Ground

226 Brisbane Cricket Ground

334 Headingley

He scored the fastest 200 in Test Cricket, 214 minutes at Headingley in 1934 and has scored the most runs in a day, 309 at Headingley in 1930. He scored a century in a session on 6 occasions.

He holds 2 World Test wicket Partnerships Records:

405 5th wicket with S G Barnes v England at Sydney 1946-47

346 6th wicket with J H Fingleton v England at Melbourne 1936-37

In additional to the 2 World Test records above he holds 2 Australian Test wicket Partnership Records:

451 2nd wicket with W H Ponsford v England at The Oval 1934

388 4th wicket with W H Ponsford v England at Headingley 1934

Sir Donald captained Australia 24 times. His team won 15, lost 3, and drew 6. His win percentage of 62.5% was exceeded only recently by S R Waugh and now Ricky Pointing (also of Australia).

In addition to his feats on the field, Sir Donald was a highly respected administrator and was tireless in his efforts in promoting cricket around the world.

"It is strange, but I think true, that all the time, day and night, somewhere in the world somebody is talking about Bradman." (Jack Ingham - English Sportswriter)