Every Day was a Rainbow Day for Sir Donald Bradman
Portrait of Sir Donald Bradman at the entrance
Any cricket fan’s or cricketer’s trip to Australia will not be complete without visiting the famous ‘Don Bradman Museum’ located on the ground floor of the beautiful Adelaide Oval which is at the Northern end of the city. As the city of Adelaide has grown and evolved, so too has the Adelaide Oval. An inseperable part of the Adelaide’s sporting and social fabric since 1870s, the oval had taken on even more importance as a centerpiece of the state’s identity – a world clas stadium that will be an existing venue for national and international events for decades to come.
The name of Donald Bradman occupies a special place in the hearts of every Australian; young and old and is respected as the greatest batsman in the history of world cricket. Born in 1908 at New South Wales he began playing cricket at the age of two years. Moving on to Sydney when 18 he was selected to play for New South Wales state side at 19 and made his Australian debut at the age of 20 years.
Representing Australia from 1928 to 1948 he ended his career with a second ball duck to give him an amazing average of 99.94 runs per an innings. If he had made just four runs more the Don would have averaged 100. In 1980 after correspondence with the then Australian Prime Minister, Sir Don donated a substantial number of personal items to the state with the Library as the custodian which is now known as the ‘Bradman Collection’. For many years the collection was displayed at the Mortlock Library and the State Library’s Institute building on North Terrace. It was transferred to the Adelaide Oval in 2008.
The writer at the Adelaide Oval with the guide
At the entrance to the museum a big portrait of Sir Donald Bradman is displayed with a saying of his – ‘I was never coached, I was never told by anyone how to hold a bat’ engraved on the right hand side of it. The personal lounge of this great cricketer with his wedding photograph, the radio set which he listened to cricket commentaries and the record player with the sofa chair is placed in the first cubicle followed by the bath tub used by Sir Donald, pictures of his young days, as cricketer meeting state heads, international cricketers and personalities hang on the walls.
Every item of his cricket kit, materials used, the green baggy Australian cap, the national blazer is preserved for public viewing. On a large screen incidents related to the world famous bodyline series was shown along with a century scored by Bradman which was attracted by visitors. Don Bradman was not only a great cricketer. He was an author of several books including his autobiography and several books related to his cricketing life. Some of these books were exhibited at the museum. He had composed the then famous song ‘Every Day is a Rainbow Day for me’.
The writer had the privilege of visiting every nook and corner of the Adelaide Oval including the press box, players enclosures, third umpire’s and match referee’s enclosure, the scoreboard, team conference halls, the Bradman Stand, practice wicket areas, the main playing area and all five floors of the stands accompanied by a guide.
A marvelous experience for any cricket enthusiast!
P.S. It was a sad sight for any Sri Lankan to witness someone wearing a Sri Lanka Cricket T-shirt sipping a beer whilst the national anthem was being sung at the commencement of the Sri Lanka Australia match at the Sydney cricket grounds.