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Article: Bradman the orthodox.(DEVINE)(Sir Donald Bradman)
- Article from:
- Quadrant
- Article date:
- May 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Quadrant Magazine Company, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE CONTRADICTIONS in Sir Donald Bradman's character contribute both to the continuing fascination with the legend and a certain hesitancy in the popular embrace of him. On the one hand there is the uninhibited, overwhelming, force-of-nature quality of his cricket. On the other there is the reserved, cautious, rather prickly private individual. It defies cultural norms. An Australian who batted like Bradman had to be a swashbuckler, surely, one of the boys, a larrikin. Like the ineffable Warnie.
But the contradictions make Bradman's successful life an heroic achievement. Its effortfulness and Bradman's approach to the struggle are to be seen, sharply defined, in ...