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Sir Donald Bradman feared a second Kerry Packer breakaway venture in the 1980s and did not blame Australian cricketers for taking big money to play in apartheid South Africa. He was no fan of Paul Keating, admired Queen Elizabeth II, and took some of his greatest pleasure late in life from watching Shane Warne in action. These insights and many more are contained in a collection of more than 20 letters penned by Bradman to an English friend, the entertainer Peter Brough, and tucked away in the National Library of Australia. Sir Donald Bradman wrote letters late in life almost as prolifically as he’d made runs in his younger years. Credit: Fairfax Media Written between 1984 and 1998, the letters capture Bradman’s complicated relationship with fame and his often trenchant views on sport and politics at home and abroad. Peter Brough was an English entertainer, specialising in a ventriloquist act that was popular on radio during the 1950s in the UK. Bradman met Peter Brough through his father Arthur during tours of England in the 1930s, and the younger men struck up a friendship that continued through correspondence over many years. Peter Brough died in 1999, Bradman in 2001. The letters were donated to the NLA by Peter Brough’s family. ‘The cricket world has been in a ferment’ In the winter of 1985, Bradman held grave concerns for the future of the game amid the loss of 14 top Australian players to “rebel” tours of South Africa. There were parallel revelations that Kerry Packer was signing up players himself to protect his investment in the game in Australia. Former Australian captain Kim Hughes (left) at the Wanderers Ground in Johannesburg in 1985 while playing on a rebel tour of South Africa organised by Ali Bacher. Credit: AP There was no Packer breakaway: the terms he had agreed with Bradman in 1979 were too generous for that. And it was economic sanctions, rather than the sporting kind, that brought a swift end to apartheid in the late 1980s. Bradman was buoyed by South Africa’s readmission. ‘Keating is a disaster’ Bradman’s conservative political views are no secret, and an affection for the UK and its monarchy remained strong right through his life. In May 1986, he was a guest of Queen Elizabeth II for lunch on the royal yacht Britannia during a tour of Australia. There was admiration, too, for Britain’s long-serving prime minister Margaret Thatcher, who resigned from office in 1991 after more than a decade in charge. Bradman contrasted democracy in Britain and Australia with the recent assassination of India’s former prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, in May of that year. The USSR collapsed later that same year, a moment Bradman marked with acclamation. A couple of years later, Paul Keating was re-elected as Australia’s prime minister, but in December 1993 the South Australian Labor government paid the price for the State Bank collapse. Paul Keating’s reign as prime minister was not enjoyed by Sir Donald Bradman. Credit: Fairfax The republic remained an issue for Bradman, especially when viewed through the lens of personal problems for so many members of the royal family in the 1990s. The price of fame In the 1980s and ’90s, Bradman’s profile rose as a much-venerated figure in Australia and around the world. While appreciative of so much love, Bradman also felt constrained by the attention, and the demands it placed on his time and letter writing. Gary Sweet as a defiant Bradman in Bodyline opposed to England paceman Harold Larwood and captain Douglas Jardine. Credit: Bodyline The TV miniseries Bodyline was broadcast in 1985, starring Gary Sweet as Bradman. The man himself gave a mixed review. The bicentenary of European settlement took Bradman and his wife Jessie to Sydney in early 1988, where a celebratory Test match was played. A few months later, Bradman confessed to seeking refuge away from the spotlight: “I prefer to be far away from crowds and publicity. My 80th birthday is coming up in August and I have already arranged to go away from Adelaide for a week to dodge all the fuss.” Attention ramped up further in 1996, when Bradman sat down with Ray Martin for a televised interview to raise funds for the Bradman Museum in Bowral. Around the same time, John Howard’s election as prime minister put an avowed “cricket tragic” in the lodge, who often cited Bradman as a hero. In 1998, Bradman confided further to Brough about the price of his fame. On Warne In the interview with Martin, Bradman spoke of how the best cricket anyone could possibly watch was that of an aggressive batsman versus an over-the-wrist leg-spinner. By May 1991, it had been nearly 30 years since the retirement of Richie Benaud, and Bradman despaired of seeing another wrist-spinner of top quality. “The great tragedy of modern cricket is the demise of the slow leg-spinner,” he wrote. “Primarily it seems to be due to the one-day games in which ‘economy’ is the only thing that matters. Shane Warne in full flight. Credit: Dallas Kilponen “You don’t have to get the other fellow out, you only have to stop him scoring runs, and of course young leg-spinners when learning their trade, are always a bit expensive.” Shane Warne was by that time making his start in first-class cricket, and made his debut for Australia in January 1992. In early 1993, Bradman had started to pay attention. That prediction proved prescient. England’s troubles in the late 1980s and early 1990s are another theme of Bradman’s letters, but in this case they are balanced by what he was seeing from Warne. “Poor old England is in a bad way – rather than sack [captain Graham] Gooch I think they should have sacked the selectors,” he wrote during the 1993 Ashes series. “There must be better players in the county ranks than some of those selected. “Still it must be lauded that our fellows have played well and I have been excited to see a young leg-spinner turning the ball more than anyone since [Chuck] Fleetwood-Smith. And he has been economical as well. Time we got away from the endless stream of fast bowlers.” Shane Warne set the 1993 Ashes series alight. Credit: Reuters Eighteen months later, Bradman was ready to afford Warne the highest possible praise, though he was still just 25 years old and had more than a decade of Test cricket ahead of him. “Shane Warne is bowling brilliantly and causing all sorts of trouble,” he wrote in November 1994. “Excepting [Bill] O’Reilly, Warne is the best slow leg-spinner we’ve produced, better even than [Clarrie] Grimmett and that is very high praise.” An eye for talent Bradman’s eye was always open for the admiration of great players, but it was his assessments of young, promising cricketers that stand out most. In the summer of 1985-86, he picked out arguably the two finest Australian cricketers to debut in an otherwise grim season: lithe left-armer Bruce Reid and a young all-rounder called Steve Waugh. He also supported the decision to install Tim Zoehrer as Australian wicketkeeper ahead of Wayne Phillips. Paceman Bruce Reid and all-rounder Steve Waugh caught Bradman’s eye. By November 1989, Australia’s cricket fortunes were on the upswing, and as a spectator at Adelaide Oval, Bradman saw a young Darren Lehmann hammer a double century in the Sheffield Shield. He also watched on television as Martin Crowe sculpted a century of his own in the Perth Test. In the winter of 1991, Bradman was discerning the first signs of decline for the great West Indian team, even though they had beaten Australia at home earlier in the year. He also rated the performance of Mark Taylor, while being awed by the strokeplay of a young Mark Waugh. “Though we lost the rubber in West Indies I don’t think the gods were on our side and I would back us to beat them next time,” Bradman wrote. “We now have a super left-hand opener in Taylor and Mark Waugh is all class, better than his brother Steve who did so well on our last tour of England.” The following year in Sri Lanka, Border broke a century drought that lasted four summers, raising a pithy reaction from Bradman. Ricky Ponting batting for Australia at 21. Credit: Vince Caligiuri In the spring of 1995, Bradman saw Ricky Ponting play a “beautiful innings” up close and tagged him a “future Test prospect”. The following summer, Bradman observed the decline of the once great West Indian team. There were more tough times that summer and afterwards for Taylor, in the midst of a long form slump that very nearly cost him the Australian captaincy. Bradman rated Taylor a better captain than Border, and was understanding of why he had been retained. A century in Birmingham saved Taylor’s tenure, and he went on the lead the team until January 1999. Running the game As time ticked by, Bradman felt himself growing more distant from the game and its administration. He resigned from his committee posts with the South Australian Cricket Association in 1986, lamenting the coarsening of international sport. This is not to say that Bradman did not retain strong opinions. During the 1980s, England took a fearful battering from the West Indies, and many English followers bemoaned a lack of oversight from umpires about short-pitched bowling. Brough was one of them, and got a succinct reply. Umpires were still a topic of discussion in 1992, particularly around the World Cup held that year in Australia and New Zealand. Bradman was staunchly in favour of each country retaining the right to have home umpires. News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter . Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. License this article Donald Bradman Cricket Australia Shane Warne Kerry Packer Ricky Ponting Allan Border More... Daniel Brettig is The Age's chief cricket writer and the author of several books on cricket. Connect via Twitter . Most Viewed in Sport LoadingFIA branded ‘childish’ over Max Verstappen ‘f**k’ swearing saga
Spending squeeze ‘could cost more than 10,000 Civil Service jobs’Danica Patrick, renowned as the sole female victor of an IndyCar race in the United States , has hinted she will continue to work for British broadcaster Sky Sports in 2025. Former NASCAR star Patrick regularly appears on Sky Sports during Formula 1 races held in North and South America, and she even ventured to report on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix recently. Although Sky Sports frequently shuffles its lineup - introducing new talent while seeing familiar faces like Johnny Herbert exit stage left in 2023 and Damon Hill bow out last month - it appears Patrick, 42, is set for a longer stay. Her end-of-season social media post carried a tinge of sentiment as she reflected on the year. She wrote: "What a fun year to be reporting on F1 and be at the last race in Abu Dhabi! So many winners and so many story lines! 2025 is going to be lit! "Most of all... I love my Sky Sports crew. They make work fun and are also incredibly talented and I learn from them every weekend!" Despite her achievements on the racetrack, Patrick has stirred controversy with her political stance. She openly supported Donald Trump , who clinched the United States Presidential Election last month, and cast her vote for the 78-year-old. In October, she moderated a North Carolina town hall event featuring J.D. Vance, Trump's running mate set to take office in January. On US TV news, she defended her choice to back the Republican ticket over Democrat Kamala Harris. She said: "It feels like voting for Donald Trump is like the vote of reason. It's like the rational, reasonable choice. There is a difference definitely between the way that men and women are voting, and I think maybe one of the reasons why women are having a harder time with the vote is just [Trump's] personality. "That's the most common answer you hear from people. 'I just can't vote for him'. I don't think that's a good enough reason. You don't have to go to dinner with him, you just have to like the country that you live in. "If he gets into office, with all the amazing, brilliant people who are supporting him, I feel like it can not only make America great again but make America greater than it's ever been."
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Cameron Haffner scored 13 points as Evansville beat Missouri State 57-40 on Sunday to snap a five-game losing streak. Haffner went 5 of 12 from the field (3 for 7 from 3-point range) for the Purple Aces (4-9, 1-1 Missouri Valley Conference). Joshua Hughes added 11 points, nine rebounds and four steals. Tayshawn Comer scored 11. Dez White finished with 12 points, four assists and six steals for the Bears (7-6, 0-2). Missouri State also got 10 points, 12 rebounds and two steals from Michael Osei-Bonsu. Zaxton King had eight points. Evansville carried a slim three-point lead into halftime, as Haffner led the way with seven points. Evansville took the lead for what would be the final time on Haffner's 3-pointer with 18:44 remaining in the second half. His team would outscore Missouri State by 14 points in the second half. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .
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