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Portraying Don Bradman on film brought actor Gary Sweet fame, and lasting expectations.
“If I go to the cricket and we’re going a bit rough there’ll be wags in the outer telling me to jump the fence,” said the man who played the major role in the mini-series Bodyline.
“‘Put the whites on and get out there, Bradman! Come on, son.'”
Back in 1984 Sweet never knew how the role would enhance his career, but Australians have an insatiable appetite for anything Bradman, as strong now as when he played his last Test, 60 years ago.
There’s been coins, stamps, cookies.
Museums, exhibitions, statues and songs, from Jack O’Hagan in the ’30s to Paul Kelly in the ’90s.
Bradman had a rose named after him, and the ABC immortalised his batting average – 99.94 – by using the digits as its capital city post office box number.
And naturally, for a sport unrivalled in literature, there are books. Hundreds.
Bradman wrote the first himself – My Cricketing Life, published after his breakthrough 1930 England tour.
Every summer prompts a fresh wave, including a handful released to coincide with the centenary of his birth, which falls tomorrow.
The Melbourne Cricket Club shelves stock almost 350 records specifically Bradman-related, from books to magazine issues, newspaper flyers and at least 138 biographies.
Bradman has fascinated Australia for 80 years, and it has been broader than just cricket.
MCC librarian David Studham attributed the interest to two major factors.
Bradman maintained unrivalled and sustained excellence over 20 years, and rose to prominence when Australia needed a hero during the Depression.
“It doesn’t really surprise me we get primary school kids who want to come in and see Don Bradman’s bat and cap, like they go to Melbourne Museum and see Phar Lap,” Studham said.
“It’s a rite of passage for Australian school students. You learn about Phar Lap and you learn about Don Bradman.”
When Sweet met the man he was to portray, he was amazed by Bradman’s own amazing recollection, even if it clashed with dramatic licence.
“It was to the point where I know for a fact he was very upset about a scene in the series where I had a beer after a Test win,” he said.
“He was adamant that never happened.”
But Sweet found Sir Don possessed a sense of humour, as his favourite fan letter was from a boy in Pakistan who wrote: “Can I have your autograph before it’s too late for both of us?”
Seeking signatures brought thousands closer to Bradman, and prompted Melbourne’s Stuart McGougan to visit Adelaide one weekend in 1997.
McGougan and his wife Jo arrived at Bradman’s home unannounced, but Lady Jessie took them to the backyard, where The Don was using the whipper snipper.
They chatted over tea for 15 minutes, and McGougan rated the experience one of the best of his life, and also one of the worst. He was without his camera.
He says Bradman commands respect because Australia “has lacked inspirational leadership arguably for generations.
“We haven’t had a Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela,” he said.
“Like Michael Jordan and now Michael Phelps, he’s someone who made such a mark on their chosen sport and made worldwide impact, so in our culture he’s hero-worshipped.”
Outside Australia, too.
Indian cricket fan Gajanand Nagmate said Bradman was a phenomenal cricketer and person.
“I never heard about his bad behaviour. In India we love Sir Donald,” Nagmate said.
“We respect him like he is our own.
“Cricket is a religion in India and we like all cricketers who are gentlemen. He’s top of the list.”
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