Let Don Bradman remain human
For almost six decades, a Test batting average of 99.94 in cricket has remained the pinnacle of achievement for all batsmen. The person who retired with that average? Sir Don Bradman.
Of late, there is a story doing the rounds about an Australian statistician finding a problem with an old scorecard where four runs were not credited to the Don back then, and if these runs are added now, they give him a perfect average of 100.
Why? and Why Now? What is the harm in letting things be the way they are?
I think there is a delicious irony in the fact that even the greatest of them was fallible and human… and ended his career with an ‘almost’ perfect average.. or the fact that he got a duck in his last innings instead of the regulation century. Of course, as is well chronicled, the other time Bradman looked human was during the Bodyline series in Australia in 1932-33, which almost caused England and Australia to sever ties.
Wonder what Wisden / other governing bodies are making of all this.
