'Today's cricket would've disappointed Bradman'

Melbourne: Sir Donald Bradman would be terribly disappointed by much of the conduct in modern day cricket, fellow Invincible Sam Loxton has said.

Loxton was a part of Don Bradman’s Invincibles lineup that went through the 1948 tour of England undefeated, cricinfo reported.

Speaking ahead of the centenary of Bradman''s birth today, Loxton said the nasty on-field environment prevalent in international matches these days was a far cry from the way the 1948 tour of England was conducted.

“If I ever hear Ian Healy or someone say sledging has been going on forever, I''m going to refer him to the video of the Invincibles - there wasn''t a word out of place for the whole tour,” Loxton said.

“If Bradman could come back today and see what''s happening in the game of cricket, I think he''d be terribly disappointed.”

Loxton is also unsure whether current Australian captain Ricky Ponting is the right choice to deliver Wednesday night’s Bradman Oration at Cricket Australia’s centenary dinner in Sydney, citing January’s spiteful Sydney Test against India.

“When I heard about Ricky Ponting delivering the Bradman oration I thought to myself, ‘Dear oh dear, oh well, that''s the way they do things these days’,” Loxton said.

Apart from touring with him in 1948, Loxton became firm friends with Bradman over the course of their time as administrators - Loxton as selector, Bradman as selector and Australian Cricket Board chairman.

Over that time Bradman earned a reputation among some players for aloofness, but Loxton said it was simply a case of their needing to make the first move.