Since Steve Waugh made the Australian team “invincible”, test cricket has changed a lot. Many teams now play them similarly to one dayers, because it is much easier to win a test match that way rather than draw it.

Remember the huge outcry when Ponting let Brad Hodge go on to score 200 vs South Africa and we drew? That would never have happened 20 years ago, because draws were the expected norm.

Hitting out is a good way to get out. All I’m saying is that Bradman never needed to “throw caution to the wind” because of the timeless nature of the tests he played.

“Lets see how Ricky is travelling as he approaches 40 years of age.”

If Bradman had played 280 one-day matches to go along with his 52 test matches you might have a point, but the fact is that Ponting has played over 800 days as opposed to Bradman who played more like 300, spread over 20 years.

And modern-day cricket is much more rigorous than it was 80 years ago. People are expected to have aerobic abilities comparable to track athletes, mostly because of the increased importance of fielding and running between wickets.

Compare this to Doug Walters who worked as a sales rep for Rothman’s Tobacco while playing cricket for Australia.

And I’m sure Ponting would still be good enough to get a game for Australia at age 40, whether or not he actually wanted to play at that age. He may prefer to simply lay back and bask in his multi-million dollar nest egg – an Option Bradman didn’t have.

Well, since we’re talking past Australian captains with a top score of 334, here’s my chance to record that I once dismissed one such Australian captain three times in four balls.

Well, okay then, he was only a future Australian captain at the time, and the dismissals were a tad unusual: two sixes-and-out, and one that hit the sprinkler outside leg stump and took off stump (in fact, it turned almost twice as far as the Gatting ball!) – but the grandkids don’t really need to know all the details, do they?

Some of the time Australia was being outplayed or at least matched by England and Bradman oten carried heavy responsibility as the mainstay of the batting in a way that Ponting was not (usually).

I don’t think you can knock Bradman’s run rate, nobody ever accused him of playing safe to get big scores, he believed that attack was the best defence.

He made a ton in one of three digs and bodyline was invented especially for him. That season was probably his slump.

He played a limited number of tests but they were spread over 20 years. Lets see how Ricky is travelling as he approaches 40 years of age. Or 50 to match W G Grace:)

Bradman played in the era of timeless test matches, so there was never any reason for him to “go the tonk” so to speak. He could bat as long as he wanted every time, which is why he (And many other batsman of that era) had so many scores in excess of 200 or even 300. He only ever hit 6 6s in his 54 test career.

54 matches also probably isn’t enough to experience a prolonged form slump that would bring his average in line with modern players. The 2nd best batsman to ever live, Ricky Ponting, HAS had that form slump and still averages close to 60. Over 110 tests rather than Bradman’s 54. That is a pretty rare achievement in itself.

It is interesting to compare the first class figures of people like W G Grace with Bradman and Trumper. Grace played at the top level until he was well into his forties (and he bowled as well) and with the number of county games (two per week thought the summer) he played, he racked up over 50,000 runs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._G._Grace

For comparison, when Bradman played there were only four states in the Shield competition. He still managed 28,000 runs from a quarter of the games that Grace played, admittedly on much better wickets.

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

Grace was a fine athlete, and people who know his portly frame may be surprised to know that early on he was a champion in the 440 hurdles!

He took up bowls in retirement, made the English team and organised a contest with Scotland that was the start of international competition in that sport.

He toured Australia a time or two, as did two of his brothers, the older EM and the younger (name forgotten). They all played for England (the Three Graces) and the younger took one of the great outfield catches as Lords when he ran some impossible distance around the boundary to catch a ball that was going for six.

Don’t think sledging is a modern inovation, for Gloucester with WG in the slips and EM at point they maintained a running commentary to disconcert the batsman.