"Sport is such an important part of our national identity that is hardly possible that a sportsperson can come along and transcend the sport they play. But it does happen, every generation or so, someone comes along with skills so finely tuned, that they change the game they play and forever become synonymous with that sport. More than that, their skills and attitudes come to symbolise that sport. For millions of people in Australia and around the world The Don was Australian cricket. Sir Donald Bradman was, beyond any argument, the greatest batsman who ever lived and the greatest cricketer of the 20th century. In that time, his reputation not merely as a player but as an administrator, selector, sage and cricketing statesman only increased."--Provided by publisher.

A masterly portrait of cricket's supreme batsman and Australia's greatest hero. Uniquely among biographers of Don Bradman, Charles Williams sets his subject's cricketing achievements within the context of a crucial period in the history of modern Australia, a time when, as the country felt her way towards something that the world would recognise as 'nationhood', Bradman became a focus for national aspirations, a figure of unique status. Brilliantly revealing the phenomenon of Bradman's cricketing genius - and the tensions that genius created for the man, his family, team-mates and the game's administrators - Williams' story is as much about Australia as it is a great Australian.

"Looking over the legends and stars of both sports, explaining the rules, complete with glossary, Right Off the Bat is a fine assortment of knowledge, very much recommended for any curious sports fan."—Midwest Book Review It's been said that baseball and cricket are two sports divided by a common language. Both employ bats, balls, innings, and umpires. Fans of both steep themselves in statistics, revel in nostalgia, and toss around baffling jargon. In Right Off the Bat, baseball nut Evander Lomke and cricket buff Martin Rowe explain "their" sport—and their love of it—to the other sport's fans. You'll come away finding yourself as fascinated by legbreaks and inswingers as you are by knuckleballs and sliders (or vice versa). Are you a dyed-in-the-wool baseball fan who nevertheless harbors a nagging doubt as to whether Babe Ruth was, in fact, the greatest athlete ever to swing a bat? When you think of cricket, is what comes to mind stuffy Victorians standing around in a field, twirling their mustaches and saying silly things like "Howzat" or "googly"? Or are you a staunch cricket fan who sometimes wonders whether a screwball is really as difficult to execute as a doosra? Do you ask yourself where the thrill is in watching a ball sail 400 feet over a wall and just past the outstretched fingers of a fielder wearing a glove (and all for a paltry one run)? Well, step right up and take a seat—you've got a lot to learn (for example, the very first international cricket match was played in the United States). And Right Off the Bat is just the book for you.

The Diggers' Doctor tells of Dr Donald Beard's extraordinary life as a surgeon, as well as his love of cricket and deep friendship with cricketers, including Sir Donald Bradman.