Young Bradman

77 Australia Would a 21 st century Bradman use a taped bat? Would his sponsors let him?! An intriguing question is whether the riches of the 21 st century (by comparison with the past) tend to weaken the self-reliance of cricketers, and people generally. Later in that match, Macartney praised Larwood for what he termed his ‘head work’: ‘After all it is the head work that counts in bowling more than the actual deliveries.’ Bradman was now competing against some of the most proficient cricketers in the world; Englishmen - amateurs or professionals - who played the game all summer, not like Australians one day a week, and maybe four full weeks a year. Some of the English skills were beyond him. Asked in the ABC interview about his first Test century, in the Third Test in Melbourne, Bradman recalled, with significant emphasis: ‘Oh yes, that was of course a great thrill, but in fact you know, my greatest memory of that match was watching Hobbs and Sutcliffe play on a sticky wicket.’ Should they, England, have got those runs, the winning 332 for seven, Norman May asked: Ah, no. That was about the worst sticky wicket I ever saw in my life, and the batting of Hobbs and Sutcliffe was simply magnificent, that was the best possible under those difficult conditions that I ever saw. Hobbs of course was a master, Sutcliffe was just as good, I think, under those conditions, and they had a lot of experience playing on wet wickets in England. I honestly didn’t think it was possible that fellows could have played so well … you could never be sure whether it’s going to fly or not, and you have got a fraction of a second to make up your mind what to do after it hits the pitch, and there’s a great deal of luck in it. I think if you get away with the first three or four balls and get an understanding of what the pitch is going to England batsman Jack Hobbs.