How I Play Cricket

In this clip, a young Donald Bradman demonstrates the innovative methods he used to develop his reflexes, hand-eye coordination and concentration when he was an aspiring cricketer growing up in Bowral.

Bradman is shown hitting a golf ball against a water tank with a cricket stump, and demonstrates taking some classic catches from a paling fence.

The excerpt is from a short documentary, How I Play Cricket, directed by Paulette McDonagh in 1932. McDonagh was one of three sisters who made history in 1926 by becoming the first Australian women to own and run a film production company.

Professionally known as the 'McDonagh Sisters', they were among the first to produce a 'talkie' in Australia. Their collaborations led to both feature-length dramas and documentaries, with Paulette working as the director and writer, Phyllis as a producer and Isabel acting under the name 'Marie Lorraine'.