A unique, colour footage of the legendary Australian batsman, Donald Bradman — considered to be the greatest batsman of all time — has been released by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA). The vision, available on the NFSA website, shows Bradman coming out to bat at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) during a testimonial match between AF Kippax and WA Oldfield on February 26, 1949.
Talking about the same, NFSA said, “This 16mm colour footage is assumed to have been shot by George Hobbs, who had worked as a cameraperson for the Department of Information during the Second World War and later for ABC TV.”
This is the only known colour footage of #DonBradman playing #cricket, filmed at the AF Kippax and WA Oldfield testimonial match in Sydney, 26 February 1949!
It comes from a home movie donated by the son of cameraman George Hobbs.
Read more: https://t.co/0K36LLb77l pic.twitter.com/HwFPf2V9hF— NFSA -National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (@NFSAonline) February 21, 2020
The 66-second video is silent but shows a bustling crowd of about 41,000 that filled the SCG on a sunny Saturday to watch Bradman play his last match at the iconic venue.Â
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While it is said that Bradman’s last test series was in England in 1948, according to NFSA, he also played in three testimonial matches after that tour: his own testimonial match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in December 1948 (a tied match in which Bradman scored his last first-class century), the Kippax-Oldfield testimonial match at the SCG in February 1949 and his final first-class match in a Sheffield Shield game in Adelaide for South Australia against Victoria.
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Some of them are impossible to break like he holds the record of having the highest average in Test cricket in minimum innings. In a span of his 20-year illustrious career, he donned the national jersey in 52 Tests in which he mustered 6996 runs with 29 hundred and 13 fifties at a staggering average of 99.96. He scored 29 centuries in his stellar career and even got the recognition of being called ‘Sir’ Don Bradman.
