Cricket World Stunned As Colour Footage Of Don Bradman's Batting Found After 71 years

Published - 21 Feb 2020, 12:38 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 06:44 AM

Sir Don Bradman (Credits: Twitter)

Sir Don Bradman needs no introduction. The former Australia skipper is widely regarded as the greatest batsmen to have graced the game. But give that he played between 1928 and 1948, not many from present times have seen him play. There are some clips available but not many would have seen a colorized clip of his batting before National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) released a special clip on Friday.

The clip, available on the NFSA website, shows Don Bradman striding onto the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) during a testimonial match between AF Kippax and WA Oldfield on February 26, 1949. 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, said the NFSA.

The 66-second video is silent but the huge crowd makes it very clear that it was a very special occasion as more than 40,000 fans had gathered at the SCG to witness Don Bradman play his last game at the ground. Bradman’s innings in the AF Kippax and WA Oldfield testimonial was the second-to-last of his first-class career.

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Bradman played in three testimonial matches following his final Test appearance, which was at The Oval in August 1948. The other two testimonial games were at the MCG in December 1948 and a Sheffield Shield match for South Australia against Victoria.

Here is the clip of Don Bradman’s batting posted by NFSA:

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

Don Bradman, whose last Test came in August 1948, scored a staggering 6996 runs in just 56 Tests at his famous average of 99.94. Following a stint in hospital with pneumonia in December 2000, he died at home on the 25th of February 2001, aged 92.