ABSTRACT
It was probably the most remarkable over in cricket, but for all the wrong reasons. Don Bradman, the cricketer who became more than a man, faced Eddie Gilbert, a missionary Aboriginal who had not been granted the rights through citizenship to be a man. They played out a script that only Australian cricket could write. On 6 November 1931, New South Wales played Queensland at the Gabba. Gilbert, carrying the curiosity of the white spectators and the hope of fellow ‘inmates’ at the Barambah mission, summoned his speed, dexterity and fitness for one remarkable over. The first ball removed the New South Wales opener Oscar Wendell Bill, caught for a duck. Bradman then took strike. The second ball, he blocked. With the third, Bradman fell to the ground trying to avoid the Gilbert missile. There is a surviving photograph of the legendary batsman crumpled on the wicket. The fourth ball whizzed over Bradman’s head. Ball five was described by Bradman as the fastest he ever faced. The bat was knocked out of his hands. On the final ball of the over, Bradman was caught by Waterman, bowled Gilbert, for a duck. Gilbert completed the over with the figures of two wickets for none. Bradman strolled back to the pavilion.1 Bradman went on to walk into national iconography, often described – particularly by politicians – as the greatest Australian who ever lived. His accomplishments are remembered, lauded and discussed. Bradman folklore is a secular religion. Gilbert died poor, alone, anonymous and in a mental hospital.
