30th  November 1928  

 

As a local kid from Bowral, stepping into the Brisbane Cricket ground was breath stopping. I stood there looking up at the monstrous stands, which, during the day would hold tens of thousands of people. I knew that there would be a lot of pressure on me playing my first match for Australia, the crowd's expectations would already be huge for me, because they know that I am a big run scorer. As the hour draws to a close, you can feel more and more pressure as the crowd slowly trickle into the stand. You could  already  hear the buzz of excitement of the crowd before the game has started. 

 

As my turn to bat was getting closer, I felt worse and worse. Going out to play cricket in front of thousands of people. I hear the other team cheering as Hendren got out. I had to stand up and walk out,  onto the pitch, but I couldn't. Hendren was almost of the ground and I forced myself to stand. I slowly stepped out into the view the crowd. I stepped onto the pitch, I was really doing this. I tapped my bat on the rough terrain to signal the bowler I was ready. He started running in. It felt like it took him forever to run up. But once he bowled the ball, it came at me with such pace. It ripped through the air getting closer and closer to the stumps, and more importantly me! I lifted up my bat and swung. I heard a crack and started running to the opposite end of the pitch. As I slid my bat along the ground I looked at where I hit the ball. A fielder was still running after the ball. It was how fast and far he had to run to try to catch up with it.  

 

As the day drew to a close I had scored 118 runs in total. It was an exceptional feeling once I started hitting runs more freely. Altogether the team says I did a great job especially since it was my first game playing for Australia. They said that I could get even better if I practised, so that is what I will do.  will try my hardest to become the best.  

 

Bradman