Donald Don Bradman Australia Cricket Coin Gift Set 1948 Start Price GBP 24.99 Current Price GBP 24.99 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Monday, June 30, 2008 End Time Thursday, July 10, 2008 Location Leices See more about 'Donald Don Bradman Australia Cricket Coin Gift Set 1948' Description Sir Donald (Don) Bradman Cricket Coin Display Gift Set   Sporting Legends: Retired 1948 with a batting average of 99.94   From the 'Sporting Events' range: visit our ebay store to view the full range (multiple buy to compound carriage) at: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/historiccoinandstampsetgifts     The 1948 British year set contains the complete set of nine 1948 coins, namely: halfcrown, florin, Scottish and English shilling, sixpence, threepence, penny, halfpenny and farthing.  All of the coins are in Fine (or better) condition.   This would make a great Christmas or Birthday present for a Cricket fan.   The set is housed in a display protection case but can be removed so why not frame to further enhance?       UK Payment: Paypal (preferred) or Postal Orders   Overseas Payment: By Paypal only       Check out our other items   Be sure to add us to your favourite sellers list         Sir Donald George Bradman AC (August 27th 1908 — February 25th 2001), often called The Don, was an Australian cricketer who is universally regarded as the greatest batsman of all time. He is one of Australia's most popular sporting heroes, and one of the most respected past players in other cricketing nations, as was demonstrated upon the occasion of his death. His career Test batting average of 99.94 is by some measures the greatest statistical performance of all time in any major sport.  By way of comparison, the second and third best Test averages over completed careers of any length (20 Tests or more) are 60.97 and 60.83.   Early years   Bradman was born in Cootamundra to Emily Whatman and George Bradman. When he was around 2½ years old his parents moved the family to Bowral for the cooler climate (he was later commonly referred to as "The Boy from Bowral").  Bradman practised obsessively during his youth. At home he invented his own one-man cricket game using a stump and a golf ball. A water tank stood on a brick stand behind the Bradman home on a covered and paved area. When hit into the curved brick stand, the ball would rebound at high speed and varying angles. This form of practice helped him to develop split-second speed and accuracy.   After a brief dalliance with tennis he dedicated himself to cricket, playing for local sides before attracting sufficient attention to be drafted into grade cricket in Sydney at the age of 18. He scored a remarkable 100 off just 22 balls in three eight-ball overs during his innings at Blackheath, NSW, a Blue Mountains town some 60 miles west of Sydney, on 3 November 1931. Playing against Lithgow in a match to celebrate the opening of an experimental malthoid pitch, Bradman, having scored 38 off the first over he received, later in his innings produced the following record-breaking sequence: 66424461/64466464/*661*446. (* denote singles scored by his partner, Bill Wendell). Within a year he was selected for New South Wales, and within three years he made his Test debut.   Pre-war   After receiving some criticism in his first Ashes series in 1928–1929 he worked to remove perceived weaknesses in his game, and by the time of the Bodyline series he was without peer as a batsman. Possessing a great stillness whilst awaiting the delivery, his shot making was based on a combination of excellent vision, speed of both thought and footwork and a decisive, powerful bat motion with a pronounced follow-through. Technically his play was almost flawless, strong on both sides of the wicket with only his sternest critics noting a tendency for his backlift to be slightly angled toward the slip cordon.   In the English summer of 1930 he scored 974 runs in only seven innings over the course of the five Ashes Tests, the highest individual total in any Test series before or since. Bradman himself rated his 254 in the second Test at Lord's as his best ever innings. His 334 in the third Test at Headingley, of which he scored a Test record 309 runs on one day, was then the highest individual score in Test cricket (surpassed by Walter Hammond in 1933 but not equalled by an Australian batsman until Mark Taylor declared with his score at 334 not out in 1998, in what many regard as a deliberate tribute to Bradman; the Australian record was eventually surpassed by Matthew Hayden, who scored 380 in 2003.   Bradman so dominated the game that special bowling tactics, known as fast leg theory or Bodyline, regarded by many as unsporting and dangerous, were devised by England captain Douglas Jardine to reduce his dominance in a series of international matches against England in the Australian summer of 1932–1933. Orthodox leg-theory was first used in English cricket as far back as 1910 principally as a run restricting technique bowled by slow bowlers. Jardine's take on this proven idea was to use two fast bowlers, Larwood and Voce, in tandem to bowl at leg stump whilst pitching the ball short - effectively bowling at the batsman rather than the stumps, hence the name given to the tactic by the Australian media, Bodyline. The principal English exponent of Bodyline was the Nottinghamshire pace bowler Harold Larwood, and the contest between Bradman and Larwood was to prove to be the focal point of the competition. Some indication of his superlative skill was that his average for that series, 56.57, is still higher than the career averages of all but a dozen or so international Test cricketers. Due to a dispute over his newspaper reporting role, he missed the first Test.   Further evidence of his supreme athletic skills was revealed when Bradman missed the 1935–36 tour to South Africa due to illness. During his absence from cricket, Bradman took up squash to keep himself fit. He subsequently won the South Australian Open Squash Championship.   Jack Ledward, a Victorian batsman, recalls Bradman's footwork in a description of a pre-WW II innings played by the Don against Victoria. After playing himself in, Bradman confidently announced that he was about to conduct "a round-up". Ledward watched in amazement as Bradman hit each ball of every over to every fielder in anti-clockwise succession — starting with Ledward at slip and concluding with fine-leg, disregarding the line and length of each individual delivery.   Despite occasional battles with illness, he dominated world cricket throughout the 1930s, and is credited with raising the spirit of a nation suffering under the privations of the Great Depression.   Post-war   Approaching forty years of age, he returned to play cricket after World War II, leading one of the most talented teams in Australia's history, despite being at an age at which most cricketers are long retired. In his farewell 1948 tour of England the team he led, dubbed "The Invincibles", went undefeated throughout the tour.   Bradman emerged for what was his last Test innings, at The Oval, with his Test batting average above 100. He needed only 4 runs to keep it in three figures, but he was dismissed for nought by a googly from wrist spinner Eric Hollies. Applauded onto the pitch by both teams, it was sometimes claimed that he was unable to see the ball due to the tears welling in his eyes, a claim Bradman always dismissed as a lie; "I knew it would be my last Test match after a career spanning twenty years but to suggest I got out as some people did, because I had tears in my eyes, is to belittle the bowler and is quite untrue." He was given a guard of honour by the players and spectators alike as he left the ground with a batting average of 99.94 from his 52 Tests.      The Year That Was 1948... • On 20 January, Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated by a Hindu fanatic • In February, the Soviet-dominated Eastern Bloc in Europe condemns the independent Communist regime of Tito in Yugoslavia • On 14 May, the state of Israel is formed. It is attacked by forces from Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Syria soon after • On 26 May, the Nationalists and the Afrikaner Party win elections in South Africa. They begins passing apartheid laws that severely restrict the rights of black people • British colonial troops fight Communist rebels during the Malayan 'emergency', which is declared on 16 June • On 24 July, the Soviet Union stops road and rail travel between Berlin and western Germany, forcing the Western powers to organise a massive airlift that continues until 30 September 1949, with a total of 277,264 flights. The blockade greatly heightens Cold War tensions • On 9 September, the Democratic People's Republic of [North] Korea is proclaimed, with Kim Il Sung as prime minister • On 17 September, Zionist terrorists assassinate Count Folke Bernadotte, the United Nations mediator in Palestine • On 2 November, following the presidential election, US president Harry Truman retains office, thus confounding public opinion polls • American sexologist Alfred Kinsey publishes Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male, one of the earliest books based on research into people's sex lives • South African novelist Alan Paton publishes Cry, the Beloved Country, a classic example of anti-apartheid literature • English academic F R Leavis publishes The Great Tradition, an influential analysis of the importance of the English novel • Italian film-maker Vittorio de Sica makes Ladri di biciclette (The Bicycle Thief), an example of post war neo-realist cinema • Sporting 1948... • Football League Champions were Arsenal, the Gooners leaving Manchester United in the runners up spot • The Red Devils did however defeat Blackpool, 4-2 in the FA Cup Final • The Grand National winning horse was ‘Sheila’s Cottage’ • The Cheltenham Gold Cup winning horse was ‘Cottage Rake’ • The Epsom Derby winning horse was ‘My Love’ • Golf's British Open was won by Henry Cotton • Cambridge won the Boat Race by five lengths over Oxford • Snooker’s World Championship Final ended Fred Davis (England) 84-61 Walter Donaldson (Scotland) • The Wimbledon tennis singles tournament saw victories for Bob Falkenburg of USA (mens) and Louise Brough of USA (ladies) • American Sport – The first Super Bowl did not take place until 1967 - NBA Championship: Baltimore Bullets 4-2 Philadelphia Warriors – Major League Baseball World Series: Cleveland 4-2 Boston Braves •   Check out our other items Be sure to add us to your favourite sellers list Place a Bid!