Young Bradman

33 School and district years In the classroom as on the sports field, Bradman was negotiating – first at the time, and then from memory – the ‘tall poppy’ problem, which is most acute for children, and not only in Australia; how can you have pride in yourself, if someone always does better than you? Bradman’s A grades were in mathematics and French; the Bs in English, history, another mathematics paper, chemistry, woodwork and art. Iris Payne (seven As) and Robert Taylor (five As and two Bs) indeed did better than Bradman in those end of school exams, taken in December 1922. Of 22 Bowral children in two schools who took the exams then, Bradman was almost the highest qualified; he also did better than two dozen youths from nearby Mittagong and Moss Vale. In Sydney, some boys had as many passes as him; few gained more. In that country at that time, it was hard to leave school at 14 better qualified than Bradman. At least Bradman was spared the likes of Melbourne Grammar School, which around 1930 gave wounds to the Australian historian Manning Clark, ‘which took at least 30 years to heal’. He tried to conform, but could never fit in with the rich bullies, who Bowral cricketers, including Don Bradman, his father George and uncles George and Dick Whatman, circa 1926. Left to right, back row: J Beaumont, R Webb, J. Kettle, J Chalker, W Jeffries, F Savell, B Rudge, O Prior, W Waine, S Cupitt, J Harrold, G Bradman. Middle row: S Smith, W Neal, G Whatman, R Whatman, S Willis, TC Welch, M Harold. Front row: W Smythers, A Cook, J Ryder, D Bradman, W Willis, G Bensley, W Gallagher. Centre front: W Neal junior, D Robert, J Dobson. Note the differences between the generations – youths at the front, old men (with stiffer backs?!) at the back. Cricket, and having your picture taken (by a Sydney photographer), were evidently serious businesses to these men; note that Don Bradman and other youths were more relaxed, even smiling.