How would Bradman fare in the big bat era?
Writing in the Hindu, Greg Chappell wonders how Don Bradman, the greatest of them all, would have tackled modern-day cricket
ESPNcricinfo staff
26-Jul-2015
Back when Sir Don Bradman played, cricket wasn't a professional sport. Now the players are fitter, the grounds are smaller and the bats are bigger. Writing in the Hindu, Greg Chappell wonders how the greatest of them all would have tackled modern-day cricket.
If Bradman had been born in the current era, he would have been stronger and fitter as a full time player, and would have had the same opportunity of playing on smaller grounds with more powerful and forgiving bats. Against that, he may not have had the variety of stimuli that kept his mind sharp. Let there be no doubt: it was his mind more than his talent that put him in a class of his own.
Two statistics separate him from the rest. He started innings better and he made a higher percentage of big scores per innings than everyone else. Without that, he would not have averaged nearly twice as much, as most other legendary batsmen