Young Bradman

46 First grade As Bradman rightly recalled, New South Wales, and Australia, were seeking bowlers, ‘for it is in this department of the game that NSW and Australia are sadly lacking’, said the Herald . Charles Turner looked after the medium and fast bowlers, and Dr HV Hordern ‘explained the mysteries of the ‘bosey’ to three young, first grade, bowlers. Those two old-timers may have been the best that could turn up on a Monday afternoon. Turner was 63, and Hordern 43 (did he remember Bradman from 1919?). The touring party was not yet home from England. Although Turner and Hordern sounded as if they were finding faults and giving advice, you have to ask how well they could spread themselves across 20 bowlers. Nor did the press report any coaching of batsmen, although JW Hearne after visiting the ground in 1921 wrote of ‘at least one good coach for the playing members’. If Bradman was not used to Sydney’s turf pitches, nor were many of the bowlers. After reviewing the bowlers, the Herald gave its first verdict on Bradman: … his display was so impressive that H Cranney, of the Cumberland club, invited him to play … Bradman possesses an excellent defence, and should make many runs when he masters the turf wickets. He watches the ball closely and is not afraid to hit the over-pitched ball. His doings will be closely watched. What the Sydney Morning Herald had beforehand called a ‘try-out’ had at once earned Bradman a place among the city’s 16 clubs playing first-grade cricket, in other words ranking him among the best 100 or so batsmen in the state; a leap easily taken for granted when Sydney had about 1000 teams and 16,000 players. Bradman still had far to progress. To state the obvious, the trial of 20 bowlers had needed 20 batsmen too. Many of them were older than Bradman and playing for Sydney first grade clubs. Les Gwynne would captain New South Wales second team when Bradman first played for them. He and Albert Scanes had played for the state, Alan Kippax for Australia. Archie Jackson, 13 months younger than Bradman, was about to make his debut aged 17 for New South Wales in their first Sheffield Shield match of the season. By more good fortune, when Bradman was new to Sydney, when he most needed friends, or open-minded people he could win over, the state had new selectors. Herbie Collins, Arthur Mailey and Bert Oldfield retired in mid-August 1926, while they were playing the final Test in England. The state association elected AG ‘Johnny’ Moyes, Dick Jones of St George and Harold ‘Mudgee’ Cranney. The first New South Wales team they chose in November 1926 had a median age of 26. That contrasted with a median age of 31 in the last Sheffield Shield match the season before, in January; and of 35 in the first match of the 1923/24 season. That average age fell so drastically because the four oldest - Herbie Collins, Warren Bardsley, Charlie Macartney and Charles Kelleway – either never, or hardly ever, played again for their state. All four were batsmen. This once-in-a-generation change gave the likes of Bradman and Jackson a chance that they might not have had, a few years before or after. The most outstanding batsmen can always force their way through,