The Essential Don Details

Don Bradman has been called by many names - The Boy Wonder, The Boy from Bowral , The Don, The Little Man, even George by some of his team-mates. But Braddy was the first nickname bestowed upon him.

His grandfather was christened as "Bradman'' instead of the commonly used "Bradnam''.

He was born on the same day as the future President of the United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson.

He played just one innings in Cootamundra in his cricket career, scoring one at the end of the 1927-28 season when touring country NSW with a team called the Bohemians, organised by Arthur Mailey.

His first game of organised cricket was when he was aged 11, for his school at Glebe Park, Bowral. He batted at number four and scored 55 not out.

At the age of 12 he scored his first century, 115 not out for his school against Mittagong. This was the first of 211 centuries scored in all forms of cricket.

His first appearance in senior cricket was when, as scorer for the Bowral team, he was called into the line-up to make up the eleven. He batted at number eleven and scored 37 not out.

He made his first-class debut for NSW v South Australia at the Adelaide Oval on December 16, 1927. Some 4794 spectators were present on that day. The first ball he received was bowled by Clarrie Grimmett. Bradman scored 118, becoming the 16th Australian batsman to score a century on his first-class debut.

His first job was as secretary of Deer and Westbrook, a real estate business.

He heard his name announced in the Australian Test team on radio station 2FC.

His first Test match, against England in 1928-29, was also the first ever played in Brisbane. He batted for 33 minutes in his first Test innings, scoring 18.

He was named 12th man for the Second Test, at the SCG.

In consecutive minor games in April 1929, he scored 128 not out and took five for 34, and scored 117 and took five for 57 - all five bowled.

He scored 200 or more in a single day 27 times in his first-class career.

In the 295 first-class innings in which he was dismissed, he scored 16 ducks.

He bowled 2114 deliveries in first-class cricket.

He played more games at the SCG than any other venue: 46.

He was Australia's 21st Test captain.

He considers his 254 for Australia against England in the Second Test at Lord’s in 1930 as his best.

He rated Stan McCabe’s 232 for Australia against England at Trent Bridge in 1938 as the best innings he ever saw.

His last first-class game was in the Arthur Richardson testimonial match, South Australia v Victoria at the Adelaide Oval, in March 1949. He was unable to bat in the second after he trod on the ball while fielding.

He (South Australia) stumped Bill O'Reilly (NSW) off the bowling of Eddie Ward at the SCG in January 1938.

He had a success rate of 51.67 per cent in the 120 first-class games in which he was captain.

On the 1932 tour of Canada, he once took six wickets in one eight-ball over against XV of Vancouver Island at Victoria.

He met "Babe'' Ruth, the American baseball legend, at the Yankee Stadium, New York, in 1932.

His last game was for the Prime Minister's XI against the MCC in Canberra in February 1963; he scored 4.

The ABC's postal address in all capital cities is PO Box 9994. The number was selected because Bradman's Test batting average was 99.94.

He was out hit wicket only once in his first-class career, off the bowling of Lala Amarnath in the 1st Test in Brisbane on December 1, 1947.

He rarely bowled. His best bowling in first-class cricket was 3 for 35, for the Australians against Cambridge University at Cambridge in 1930.

He bowled 21.7 overs in the first innings of South Australia v NSW at the Adelaide Oval in 1929-30.

As a captain, he allowed himself to bowl just 52 deliveries in 120 games.

He hit six sixes in his Test career.

He is the only Australian who has twice scored a century and a duck in the same Test.

He was never dismissed in the 90s in Test cricket.

He holds the record for the fastest double century; 214 minutes, against England at Leeds in 1934.

He shared four triple-century partnerships in Test cricket: two with Bill Ponsford and one each with Jack Fingleton and Sid Barnes.

The Walt Disney cartoon character Donald Duck is said to be named after Don Bradman. Bradman scored a duck on the 1932 tour of North America. Walt Disney was a cricket fan and a member of the Hollywood Cricket Club.

He won the South Australian squash championship in 1939.