Editing Don Bradman (section)

==="The ghost of a once-great cricketer"===
[[File:Bradman Barnes 234.jpg|thumb|Bradman and Barnes leave the field for an adjournment as both head towards 234.]]
[[File:Don Bradman 1946-10-31.jpg|thumb|Bradman during an interstate series at Adelaide Oval, 31 October 1946]]
In 1945–46, Bradman suffered regular bouts of fibrositis while coming to terms with increased administrative duties and the establishment of his business.<ref>Page (1983), pp. 271–272.</ref> He played for [[South Australia cricket team|South Australia]] in two matches to help with the re-establishment of first-class cricket and later described his batting as "painstaking".<ref>Bradman (1950), p. 125.</ref> Batting against the [[Australian Services cricket team]], Bradman scored 112 in less than two hours, yet Dick Whitington (playing for the Services) wrote, "I have seen today the ghost of a once-great cricketer".<ref>Eason (2004), p. 337.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=23 November 2010 |title=The Spin {{!}} The Ashes 2010: it's time {{!}} Andy Bull |url=http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2010/nov/23/the-spin-ashes-it-is-time |access-date=25 August 2022 |website=the Guardian |language=en |archive-date=25 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220825180419/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2010/nov/23/the-spin-ashes-it-is-time |url-status=live }}</ref> Bradman declined a [[Australian cricket team in New Zealand in 1945–46|tour of New Zealand]] and spent the winter of 1946 wondering whether he had played his last match. "With the [[English cricket team in Australia in 1946–47|English team]] due to arrive for the [[1946–47 Ashes series]], the media and the public were anxious to know if Bradman would lead [[Australia cricket team in Australia in 1946–47|Australia]]."<ref name="Williamsp206">Williams (1996) pp. 205–206. "It was all the more obvious that, on any analysis, the only figure of stature who could lead Australia back into the post-War cricket era was 'the little feller', the 'sick man of Adelaide', the wartime invalid now nearing forty. It is little wonder that all Australia wanted to know precisely what he was proposing to do."</ref> His doctor recommended against a return to the game.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/343302.html|title=History from the maker|work=Cricinfo|access-date=19 May 2008|date=29 March 2008|archive-date=2 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080402000719/http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/343302.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
Encouraged by his wife, Bradman agreed to play in lead-up fixtures to the Test series.<ref>Bradman (1950), p. 126.</ref> After hitting two centuries, Bradman made himself available for the First Test at [[Brisbane Cricket Ground|The Gabba]].

Controversy emerged on the first day of the [[1946–47 Ashes series#First Test – Brisbane|First Test at Brisbane]]. After compiling an uneasy 28 runs, Bradman hit a ball to the [[slip (cricket)#Gully|gully]] fieldsman, [[Jack Ikin]]. "An appeal for a [[Catch (cricket)|catch]] was denied in the [[Umpiring in the 1946–47 Ashes series#Catches and Stumpings|umpire's contentious ruling]] that it was a [[List of cricket terms#B|bump ball]]".<ref>{{cite web|url = http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/152883.html|work = Wisden|year = 1948|title = 1st Test Australia v England match report|access-date = 8 August 2007|archive-date = 9 July 2012|archive-url = https://archive.today/20120709050258/http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/152883.html|url-status = live}}</ref> At the end of the [[Over (cricket)|over]], England captain [[Wally Hammond]] spoke with Bradman and criticised him for not "[[List of cricket terms#W|walking]]"; "from then on the series was a cricketing war just when most people desired peace", Whitington wrote.<ref>Whitington (1974), p. 190.</ref> Bradman regained his finest pre-war form in making 187, followed by 234 during the Second Test at [[Sydney Cricket Ground|Sydney]] ([[Sid Barnes]] also scored 234 during the innings, many in a still-standing record 405-run [[Wicket#Partnership|5th-wicket]] [[Partnership (cricket)|partnership]] with Bradman. Barnes later recalled that he purposely got out on 234 because "it wouldn't be right for someone to make more runs than Bradman"). Australia won both matches by an innings. Jack Fingleton speculated that had the decision at Brisbane gone against him, Bradman would have retired, such were his fitness problems.<ref>Fingleton (1949), p. 22.</ref> In the remainder of the series, Bradman made three half-centuries in six innings, but he was unable to make another century; nevertheless, his team won handsomely, scoring 3–0. He was the leading batsman on either side, with an average of 97.14. Nearly 850,000 spectators watched the Tests, which helped lift public spirits after the war.<ref>Bradman (1950), p. 139.</ref>