Would Bradman score as many runs today?

Peter Evans

I suppose the easy answer to the question is Yes, simply because today, purely for TV revenue reasons, the players are required to play so many more matches. Here, though, I am considering runs per innings, in other words averages, so before we go any further let’s look at what he achieved. Every time he came to the wicket in all the First Class Games he played in he averaged 95.14 runs. Every time he came to the wicket in all the Test Matches, when he was up against better opposition, he averaged 99.94 (presumably he tried a little harder). If you are wondering how good that is then you should know that the player holding the second position in the history of cricket is the South African, R G Pollock, who averaged 60.97.

What are the aspects of cricket today which would pose him problems? There are some, certainly. The prime one would be fielding, which is probably the area of the game which has changed most over the years. The teams in his days had some good fielders but they nearly all carried a few passengers as well. He would find the boundaries a little harder to reach now, particularly as he rarely hit the ball in the air. The second problem would come from analysis of his game carried out by opposition Captains from TV footage. They would be far more adept at restricting his scoring areas.

Better bowlers? Is Warne better than O?Reilly, Harmison better than Larwood, Flintoff better than Bedser? I wonder, and somehow I doubt it.

What about the plusses. Well, there would be one thing going for him which I reckon would outweigh all the disadvantages and that is that he played, all through is career, on un-covered wickets! He would have loved not to have to play on rain-affected wickets when the spinners could make the ball turn and nearly stand up straight!

In 1933 in Australia the English Team was chosen and directed towards one specific end; to reduce Bradman’s scoring. Bodyline was invented and used for that one purpose and it should be remembered that there were no helmets in those days, and no established protective clothing other than pads. And Larwood was fast .really fast. Did it work? Yes it did. At the end of the acrimonious series Bradman’s average was a ‘mere’ 50, an average that any of the English batsman playing in the present Ashes series would regard as a mammoth achievement and that would be on covered wickets with no Bodyline Bowling!

Do I think he would make as many runs today? Yes, I do, and I can tell you one other thing and that is that he would have made a lot more money!