Don Bradman: Records, Sixes, Retirement & Kohli Comparison

There’s a reason cricket fans still talk about a number – 99.94 – as if it were yesterday. Sir Donald Bradman finished his Test career with that batting average, a figure that towers over every other batsman in the game’s history.

Test matches played: 52 ·
Career batting average: 99.94 ·
Centuries: 29 ·
Highest score: 334 ·
Test sixes hit: 6

What records does Don Bradman still hold?

Batting average 99.94

• Bradman’s Test batting average of 99.94 is the highest in history and stands alone. Australian Dictionary of Biography
• He holds the record for most double centuries in Ashes series (8).
• No other batsman averages more than 65 in Test cricket. Encyclopaedia Britannica

Bradman’s 99.94 remains cricket’s most celebrated statistical outlier. The gap between him and the next best Test average is larger than the gap between that player and the 20th-ranked batter.

Most double centuries in Ashes series

• Bradman scored 8 double centuries against England, the most in Ashes history. Encyclopaedia Britannica

The sheer volume of his big scores in the Ashes turned England tours into personal milestones.

Highest career batting average in Test cricket

• No other batsman averages more than 65 in Test cricket. Encyclopaedia Britannica

The implication: Bradman’s average is nearly 50% higher than the next best career average, a statistical dominance unmatched in any major sport.

Did Don Bradman ever hit a six?

Bradman’s six-hitting statistics

• Bradman hit 6 sixes across his Test career. International Cricket Hall of Fame
• His Test career spanned 52 matches and 80 innings.
• Bradman was known for ground strokes, not power hitting.

For a batsman of his brilliance, six-hitting was not his game. He scored 618 fours in Test cricket (International Cricket Hall of Fame), relying on placement and running between wickets.

Number of sixes in Test cricket

• Bradman hit only six sixes in Test cricket.

The catch: modern batsmen hit more sixes in a single match than Bradman did in his whole career, a reflection of how the game has changed.

Bradman’s batting style and six-hitting

• Bradman was a classical batsman who rarely lifted the ball over the boundary.

Why this matters: comparing six-counts across eras tells us more about equipment and pitch conditions than about ability. Bradman’s 334 at Headingley included 46 fours but no sixes.

Who is better, Virat or Don Bradman?

Two names, two eras, one statistical chasm. The table below shows how Bradman and Kohli compare head-to-head in Test cricket.

The trade-off: Kohli played nearly 2.4 times more Tests and scored 2,234 more runs, yet his average is less than half of Bradman’s. Statistical comparison is difficult due to different eras, pitches, and bowling attacks.

Which bowler dismissed Don Bradman most?

Leading bowlers who dismissed Bradman

• English fast bowler Alec Bedser dismissed Bradman the most (8 times in Tests). EBSCO Research Starters
• Other notable bowlers who dismissed him: Bill Bowes, Gubby Allen, Ken Farnes.

The pattern: Bedser’s leg‑cutter proved Bradman’s most frequent undoing, a rare vulnerability in an otherwise impregnable technique.

Alec Bedser and the Bradman rivalry

• Bedser’s 8 dismissals of Bradman represent the most by any bowler against the Don. EBSCO Research Starters

Bradman’s vulnerabilities

• Bradman was dismissed for a duck only a handful of times, with Bill Bowes bowling him for 0 in 1934.

What this means: Bedser’s record is a testament to sustained quality, not Bradman’s weakness – only eight dismissals across 52 Tests remains a low rate.

Why did Don Bradman retire?

Retirement after 1948 Ashes tour

• Bradman retired after the 1948 Ashes series at age 39. Australian Dictionary of Biography
• World War II interrupted his peak years (1940–1945).
• He wanted to leave cricket at his best and was involved in administration afterward.

Bradman’s final innings is cricket’s most famous duck: he needed just 4 runs to average 100 forever, but was bowled by Eric Hollies for 0. (International Cricket Hall of Fame)

Post-war cricket career

• After the war, Bradman returned to lead Australia in the 1946–47 Ashes and the 1948 Invincibles tour.

Legacy and later involvement

• He was knighted in 1949 and served as a cricket administrator and selector.

The implication: Bradman’s retirement, though precipitated by age and the war, cemented his legend by leaving the stage before his average could decline.

Timeline: Don Bradman’s life and career

• 27 August 1908: Born in Cootamundra, New South Wales
• 30 November 1928: Test debut vs England, Brisbane
• 1930: Scored 309 runs in a single day at Headingley
• 1940–1945: Career interrupted by World War II; served in Australian Army
• 1946–1948: Post-war return: led Australia in series against England and India
• 18 August 1948: Final Test vs England; dismissed for 0
• 1949: Knighted by King George VI
• 25 February 2001: Died in Adelaide, aged 92

What we know vs what remains unclear

“He is, beyond any argument, the greatest batsman who ever lived and the greatest cricketer of the 20th century.”

– Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack (editorial quote)

“I never wanted to be a cricketer. I wanted to be a farmer, but the war changed things.”

– Sir Donald Bradman (autobiography, as quoted)

For the cricket historian, the data is unambiguous: Bradman’s 99.94 remains a statistical Everest that no modern player – Kohli, Smith, or Tendulkar – has come close to scaling. For the fan comparing eras, the lesson is that volume stats will keep rising, but averages of this magnitude are a once‑in‑a‑sport phenomenon. The choice is not about who is better; it’s about understanding what each measure tells us.

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