|
|
|
AV: I'd like to start by asking you about Don Bradman. You
yourself had a long and distinguished career as a batsmen. When one
talks about batting in general, and Australia specifically, Don
Bradman is the first name that comes up. What is it like for someone
like you to forever be in his shadow?
GC: It's interesting. I think all batsmen who have come into
the game since Sir Donald Bradman are always going to have to be
resigned to the fact that they cannot match the feats that he
performed for some many years for Australia. In many ways his
performances are freakish. To have averaged nearly a hundred over 80
odd Test innings is quite extraordinary. I never saw him play, but I
have seen films of his batting. To imagine that somebody could
dominate the bowlers like he did is phenomenal. I've seen some great
players from Graeme Pollock, Barry Richards, Viv Richards, Rohan
Kanhai, Gary Sobers and now Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Steve
Waugh. They're all very good players, but to think that the next best
player after Bradman averages 40 runs a game less is hard to imagine.
He must not only have been a very good player, was very well balanced
and had all the shots in the book but mentally he must have been just
so much stronger than the others. You have to put Don Bradman in a
class of his own and then think about the rest of the batsmen that
have come after in a different group. It's an interesting question,
one that I've thought about myself, but have never actually been
asked. I would say that most people who played the game would never
even consider themselves in the same class as Don Bradman.
|
|
Gear
Cricket bat
Protective gear
Shoes
Basic techniques
Grip
Stance
Backlift
Taking Guard
Defensive strokes
Front foot defence
Backfoot Defence
Drives
Off Drive
Straight Drive
On Drive
Lofted Drive
Horizontal bat shots
Square Cut
The Pull
The Hook
|