Don Bradman

The young Bradman taught himself with a cricket stump and a golf ball in the bush, then reached the Australian Test team in just over two years. Before he turned 22, he had broken top-scoring records and become the country's idol during the Great Depression, a status that grew through the Second World War. Over twenty years he scored so consistently that Australia's captain said he was worth three batsmen, and England devised Bodyline specifically to curb him. He hated the adulation and remained aloof, straining relationships with teammates and journalists who found him wary and distant. After the war he captained "the Invincibles" on an unbeaten tour of England, then spent three decades as administrator, selector and writer - reclusive in later years but still sought for his opinion. In 1997, nearly fifty years after retirement, the Prime Minister called him the greatest living Australian.