Physical Description
Bradman Oval is bounded by Glebe Street, Boolwey Street, St Jude Street and Bowral Street. A large parkland area dominated by a stand of mature eucalypts possibly remnants of the original vegetation. A stand of these on the eastern corner impart a sense of enclosure and offer a gateway to the corner site. A line of maturing quercus occupy the St Jude's Rd boundary, and a line of exotic trees are being established between the eucalypts and Bradman Oval. The park contains a childrens playground with old road roller and adventure playground on the eastern side and is the location of the newly constructed (1989) Bradman Pavilion as a museum of Australian cricketing history. |
History
The land on which Bradman Oval is situated was originally part of Glebe Park granted to the Church of England by Oxley.
In 1883 the Bowral Cricket Club was formed and cricket has been played on the ground since 1893.
Bradman first played on this oval when he was 12 and scored 29 not out for the Bowral Cricket Club.
Bradman became a member of the Bowral Cricket Club in 1925. During his first season in the Berrima District competition, Bradman scored 1,318 runs, an average of 94.14 runs. He also took 51 wickets, averaging 7.8 and held 26 catches.
Another memorable game on this ground was in 1925 when Bradman scored 234 against the Wingello team that included Bill O'Reilly.
In 1947 the 'A Glebe' wicket was formally named the Bradman Oval. Later, improvements were made to the oval through the efforts of Bowral Municipal Council and Gordon Whatman of Bowral, personally maintained the wicket area.
In 1976 the reopening of a rehabilitated Bradman Oval was performed by Sir Donald Bradman himself in the company of the great Australian bowler Bill O'Reilly.
Overlooking the oval is the Pavilion which opened in 1989. It houses the Player's Club Room, change rooms and meeting room. Adjacent to the Pavilion is the Museum, often referred to as the Second Innings, which opened on 27 August 1996 (Sir Donald's 88th Birthday).
The first reported cricket match played in Australia was in Sydney on 8 January 1804 at the park now known as Hyde Park. By the 1830s inter-club competition had commenced in Sydney and due to the discovery of gold in the 1850s, cricket spread rapidly to the other colonies of Australia. On 15 March 1877 the first recognised Test match was played between an Australian XI and England at the Melbourne Cricket ground. Between 1880 to 1914, England and Australia played a staggering 91 Test matches during the period. Cricket in the first half of the 20th century was dominated with high scores from batsman such as Ponsford and Bradman. It was a time of record crowds as spectator flocked to the grounds to see test cricket against England, South Africa and the West Indies. Women's cricket also came of age with the first test series against England in 1934. After World War II international cricket was consolidated with Tests against New Zealand, India and Pakistan. The 1970s saw the balance change with pace bowlers dominating the game. Cricket faced its biggest division in 1977 with the advent of World Series Cricket. For two years the Australian Cricket Board banned the World Series players from recognised international fixtures resulting in parallel matches. By 1979 the rift was healed which saw the development of night games and greater television coverage. Today cricket remains Australia's major summer sport and through the International Cricket Council continues to develop worldwide. (Bradman Museum, A Museum of Australian Cricketing history Commemorating Sir Donald Bradman A.C.)
Sir Donald Bradman is Australia's greatest cricketer and one of Australia's greatest sporting heroes. He averaged 99.94 runs per Test innings and made 29 Test centuries. In 1930 he scored 309 not out in a single day in a Test in England. His invincible side of 1948 beat a good English side four nil. He scored a century, on average, about every third innings. Sir Donald Bradman was the first absolute world-beater that Australia produced and the first man from this country to engage in an activity common to many countries and rise a clear class above anyone else in the world. His cricketing career and has had a remarkable influence on Australia and the cricketing world. (The Australian 1989)
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