Bradman's runs and records

If Bradman had scored just four runs in his last Test innings at The Oval in 1948, he would have finished with a Test average of 100 runs an innings - a level of performance unchallenged by any other batsman at the time, before or since.

Bradman was bowled second ball by England's Eric Hollies for a duck. Perfectionists and cricket enthusiasts alike will mourn that dismissal forever.

The man himself had a different view.

Don Bradman played in 52 Test matches for Australia from 1928 to 1948. World War II interrupted his career at its peak.

• He batted 80 times against England, the West Indies, South Africa and India for 6996 runs at that average of 99.94.

• Bradman made 29 Test hundreds.

• Discounting his 10 not outs and his multiple hundreds, this means Bradman exceeded the century more often than every third time he went out to bat.

• His nearest contemporary in batting genius, England's Walter Hammond, made only 253 more runs in 33 more Test matches and another 60 innings at an average of 41 less than Bradman. Hammond's 22 hundreds came at a rate greater than every sixth time he went out to bat.

• Bradman made 12 Test double-centuries or more, with 334 and 304 against England and 299 not out against South Africa the highest.

• In all first-class cricket Don Bradman scored 28,067 runs at an average of 95.14 with 117 centuries and a highest score of 452 not out. He hit 37 double-centuries, six of them over 300.

Compare that with the likes of the modern day masters such as Border, Lara and Tendulkar.

Yet the cricket career of Sir Donald Bradman cannot be measured in mere facts and figures. The Don gave enjoyment not to thousand of people, but to millions.

And he didn't mind enjoying himself, either.

In 1931 he scored 100 runs in three overs! NSW cricketer Wendell Bill was batting at the other end.

So there it is : 99.94. It is six-hundredths of a sharp single short of 100, or one step down the wicket to the slow bowlers.

Some cricket purists are glad Bradman didn't hit that solitary boundary and leave the game with a permanent century against his name.

His failure to do so proves to them that even the greatest in the game isn't as great as the game itself.

In the almost half a century since that day, The Don himself lost no sleep over the most famous "blob" in cricket. The batting feats that preceded it are beyond the reach of any other cricketer.