Don had great skill but some sadness to overcome

Don had great skill but some sadness to overcome
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

MUMBAI, MAR 3: The greatest cricketer ever, Sir Donald Bradman overcame great sadness in his personal life to develop his incomparable skills in batting, according to Australian cricket writer Mike Coward.

Speaking at a memorial service organised jointly by the Cricket Club of India and Mumbai Cricket Association here on Friday for Bradman who died on February 26, Coward said very few knew the sad truths Sir Don had to live with.

``He and wife Lady Jessie lost their one-day old first child in 1936. Their son John was suffering from polio and was in caliper for some time. Their daughter Shirley was born with cerebral palsy so there was a great sadness in his personal life.''

Coward said, ``it was like the almighty saying I will give you this great skill for which you will have to pay with the other hand.''

Coward, who had been associated with Bradman since 1960, said ``Lady Bradman played a very important role in Sir Don's life. For him she was an inspiration, a love, a friend and his confidante. She was a remarkable woman with enormous strength and beauty and died of cancer in 1997''.

Paying tributes to Bradman, cricketer turned journalist Peter Roebuck said ``everybody knows that Sir Don was head and shoulders above other cricketers during that era. The reason why I think Indians adore Bradman is their love for figures. Sir Don's figures were second to none and that drew him towards the Indians and the Indians towards him.''

Current Aussie skipper Steve Waugh was presented with the life membership of CCI during the memorial service.

Former Indian cricket board president Raj Singh Dungarpur said ``men may come and men may go, but the legend of Don Bradman will go on for ever''.

Veteran cricket writer KN Prabhu recalled how the whole of India used to jump in joy whenever Bradman tore the English (``India's biggest enemy'') attack to shreds.

MCA joint secretary Prof Ratnakar Shetty revealed how over joyed he was when MCA received a letter from Bradman along with his portrait three years ago, asking them to unveil the portrait at Wankhede Stadium here, which was then auctioned for charity.

``Only the Lord's and Melbourne Cricket Ground got this honour apart from us and I think he chose Wankhede Stadium because of his liking for our very own Sachin Tendulkar,'' Shetty added.