Sir Donald Bradman has been described as the World's Greatest Cricketer. His illustrious career began in the 1920's on a modest country ground in the township of Bowral. The Bradman Museum of Cricket situated by this Oval brings to life the history of cricket and highlights WHY the legend of Sir Donald Bradman still lives today.
Why is the Bradman Museum in Bowral?
In the 1920's, when the young Don Bradman was batting and batting his way into the history books, he was affectionately known as "The Boy From Bowral".
For it was the small Australian country township of Bowral, in New South Wales, that the Bradman family moved to in early 1911. Baby Don Bradman was just 2 ½ years old.
The Bradman’s purchased a weatherboard house at 52 Shepherd St. Bowral, just one street away from the sporting ground of the Glebe Wicket. This ground was to become Bradman Oval in 1947.
At the Shepherd St. home the young Don developed a solitary game where he would repeatedly hit a golf ball with a cricket stump against the curved brick base of the family water tank. Using the house wall as one boundary on his off-side he managed to construct ‘Test’ matches in his head where he as the batsman would pit himself against the unpredictable balls ‘delivered’ by the tank stand. His repeated application to this game, using the challenging tools that he’d limited himself to, acutely developed his hand-to-eye co-ordination.
Don Bradman wrote…”Armed with a small stump, which I used as a bat, and throwing a golf ball at the brickpart of an old tank a few yards away, I would try to hit the ball on the rebound. I was never satisfied unless I could hit it, say, three times out of four. The small bat made this no easy matter; as the ball came back at great speed and, of course, at widely different angles. I found I had to be pretty quick on my feet and keep my wits about me, and in this way I developed, unconsciously, perhaps, sense of distance and pace” Sydney Morning Herald, 1930..
In 1924 the Bradman family moved to their next Bowral home in Glebe Street, now directly opposite the cricket field. George Bradman built the house, a brick ‘Californian Bungalow’. While the teenage Don Bradman was living in the Glebe St home, opposite the sporting ground now named Bradman Oval, his batting ability attracted attention from beyond the Southern Highlands for the first time.
In his latter years, Sir Donald Bradman described his time in Bowral as some of his happiest days. Bowral is where the young Don played his early cricket, honed his skills and launched his playing career. One of his final wishes was for his ashes to be returned to his boyhood town. In a private ceremony in 2001, the Bradman family scattered Sir Donald's and Lady Bradman's ashes in the Bradman Oval precinct. A garden is planted nearby that bears their name, filled with the Sir Donald Bradman Rose.
Adjacent, in the Museum courtyard, the life-size bronze statue of Sir Donald Bradman, is dedicated to his memory.
Today, the Bradman Museum of Cricket is situated by picturesque Bradman Oval and opposite the former Bradman family home, where it captures the heart of cricket and relives the triumphant Bradman story.
Related Links
Bradman Museum Timeline
Some significant points in the history of the Bradman Museum
A Perfect Ten Exhibition
A permanent exhibition at the Bradman Museum Bowral that showcases ten top athletes in sport
