The immense love and admiration for Sir Donald Bradman, the Australian cricket great, never ceases to die.
In an attempt to chronicle the living days of the legendary cricketer before his playing days, investment banker Andrew Leeming has restored Bradman’s childhood home in Bowral, New South Wales.
Leeming purchased the house, where Bradman lived between the age of three and 16, in 2007. He then took five years to re-create the house into a museum.
Called the ‘52 Shepherd Street’, the museum is a place to understand Bradman, said Leeming. "If you really want to know Bradman, you want to start from where he grew up. You will know his character and how it shaped up. “There is a lot here you can touch and feel. The idea was to create a unique cricketing experience." said Leeming here on Monday.
One of the main attractions of the museum is the water tank stand, against the base of which a young Bradman hurled a golf ball, hitting the rebound with a stump. The tank was demolished in the 1930s by the house's occupants. Leeming said his team was able to re-create the tank on the exact location because the flooring had remained intact.
Being a non-profit venture, Leeming called for constant encouragement from the public towards the museum. Former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Simon Katich have also visited ‘52 Shepherd Street’.
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