Monday Milestone: Headingley
“Three hundred runs he took and rewrote all the books
That really knocked those gents”
– Paul Kelly, ‘Bradman’
This Week in History:
1930, July 11
Sir Donald Bradman scores 309 in a single day of Test cricket at Headingley, Leeds en route to the highest individual innings by an Australian of the time
A triple century is a rare feat. In 135 years of Test cricket, there have only been 25 triple hundreds. To put this in perspective, in that same time, there have been some 39 Test hat tricks.
But in northern England, up in Leeds, lies Headingley – one of the great traditional English cricketing grounds, which since 1890 has hosted its share of history. But amidst all the runs scored through the years, stands out a single innings from the greatest of them all, Sir Donald Bradman.
The Milestone stops the Delorean during the Great Depression; a time when Australians needed optimism and 'the Don' delivered. His story of the cricket stump, golf ball and water tank down in Bowral was already stuff of legend. But striding out during the second over of the 1930 Ashes Test that day at Headingley, after an early wicket, Australia was about to learn just how special the Don was.
As usual, he set off that day at a brisk pace, and with Bill Woodfull, the Don had raced away towards his century, reaching three figures just before lunch. Even today, a hundred in a session is considered impressive in a Test match. Consider the sheer mathematics: at ninety overs a day, that means an average of thirty overs per session, or 180 balls. Assuming the batsmen divided the strike evenly, those hundred runs in a session are required from just ninety balls. That’s impressive even in limited overs matches.
When Woodfull was bowled after lunch for fifty, Australia were 2-194 with Bradman scoring the lion’s share. Undeterred, he batted on with Alan Kippax, putting together a remarkable partnership. English spirits fell as the runs began to climb with each boundary. By tea on that first day, Don Bradman was unbeaten on 220, his second double-ton in three weeks. But still, he was not finished.
As the shadows lengthened, Don Bradman began breaking records. First he reached 250. Then he passed his highest individual Test innings of 254. Ever closer towards his third century, wickets began falling around him. But with just a few overs remaining in the day, he pushed the ball away and notched up the first ever triple century by an Australian. When stumps were called that night, he was 309 not out. But the way he was batting, he could have scored anything.
When he was caught behind the next day for 334, this score that would remain unmatched for almost seventy years. Only when Mark Taylor declared on a road in Pakistan in 1998, was Bradman’s record equalled. It took Matthew Hayden’s 380 against a dubious Zimbabwean side at the WACA five years later to better it.
The legacy of this innings cannot be understated. Today the Don still remains as one of only four batsmen with multiple triple hundreds. But three hundred runs in single day? Well that day in Headingley was the moment where Bradman stood alone.
The Milestone Five: Highest Bradman scores
5. 254 against England at Lords during the same 1930 Ashes Tour
4. 270 on New Years Day, 1937 against England in Melbourne
3. An unbeaten 299 against South Africa at the Adelaide Oval in 1932. Pud Thurlow’s run out denied him his third triple ton.
2. A second triple hundred of 304 against England at Headingley, Leeds in 1934
1. A then world-record 334 v England at Headingley, Leeds in 1930.
