Bradman told him. When he was caught behind the following morning, after adding another 25, he had made what was then the highest score in Test cricket. His 254 in the second Test at Lords was better. Bradman the perfectionist was always his own roughest critic. I saw a lot of cricketers who I thought had more talent than I had,'' he once said and went on to mention Stan McCabe.
Cricket throws up statistics the way dogs throw up fleas.
To measure Bradman's superiority, one needs to go to just one table, the Test averages. So many champs from so many nations and so many eras - and there's a gap of 40 to 50 runs between Bradman and the field. Bradman the man is much more of a mystery. Florey, a shy man who died in 1968, saved hundreds of millions of lives but is little remembered. Murdoch, who continues to conquer the world, Napoleon with a satellite dish, is little loved.