Was Bradman a jerk?

[SillyCowCorner1]

But yeah he was kind of a jerk. Lots of athletes who are considered the greatest in their respective sport were jerks.

Forrest Gump?

 

[Contrarian]

They did meet. I got the year wrong as I didn't check as sort of trusted what should not be trusted--memory. It was during the Australia's 1948 tour to England when Fingleton and O'Reilly confronted Warner. "In his 1978 biography of Victor Trumper, Fingleton accused Bradman of relating Woodfull's words to the press. Fingleton claimed that Claude Corbett revealed the information to him. In Fingleton's version of events, Bradman telephoned Corbett during the night to arrange a meeting. Bradman wrote for Corbett's paper, Sydney's Sun. Sitting in Corbett's car, Bradman told the journalist about the Warner–Woodfull incident. Corbett considered the story too important to keep to himself, so shared it with other journalists."

 

[Burgey]

Mate, for better or worse (I suspect the latter based on the evidence thus far) you've happened to stumble across probably the biggest single gathering of cricket and cricket history nerds on the interbwebz. What you're telling us is pretty widely known as the non-Bradman version of events, and of course he always maintained it was Fingleton who leaked the conversation. Cutting and pasting sections of articles and posting walls of text about maters which have been on the public record for about 40 years at least doesn't cut much ice around here.

If you want to assert Bradman was a dickhead, just say it. Plenty of people around here will agree with you (myself included).There are plenty of anecdotes which go some way to supporting that contention, the Woodfull-Warner story is probably not one of them given it's (a) disputed, and (b) the background to the sectarian issue between Bradman ont eh one part and O'Reilly and Fingleton on the other is well known.

 

[Contrarian]

I wish you were right mate. This though does not come from nerds but cricket's most-respected historian and writer David Frith in what is regarded as the greatest book on Bodyline, called Bodyline Autopsy. The people who have reviewed include Simon Barnes and a host of other well-regarded cricket writers. He has not used the interaction to prove that Bradman leaked the conversation but it was Gilbert Mant's work while visiting Corbett's family that has been quoted. Now if you want to question the integrity of Frith who wrote the book after Bradman died, then that's another matter. Rob Steen wrote a brilliant piece just on the chapter that revolves around the dressing room leak. It was Bradman, if you read unbiased stuff. I am not relying on Fingleton, O'Reilly etc as they may have an axe to grind. But Frith genuinely liked Bradman but did his job as a writer/journalist to perfection.

 

[Anil]

Must have been an unusual meeting, given Warner died in 1963.

But please, carry on.

well you have to allow for the possibility that fingleton could have been a ghost whisperer...

 

[Spark]

Monomania is boring.