What transpired in the mid-day newsroom and beyond following the news of cricket legend Sir Don Bradman’s death on February 25, 2001
A copy of mid-day with the news of Sir Don Bradman’s death is held by a reader at a newsstand on February 26, 2001. PICS/GETTY IMAGES
February 25 will mark 25 years since the cricketing world lost Sir Donald Bradman. News of his death filtered in during the wee hours of the morning in the mid-day newsroom. The first edition was a few hours away from being put to bed. I grabbed the opportunity to sleep a bit in the editor’s cabin only to be woken up by a friend. The sad awakening I soon discovered was about Bradman passing away in Adelaide. The Australian wire services at that time had only a news alert. This was page one stuff. This was clearly the edition’s lead story and we didn’t need the then editor Aakar Patel to tell us that. Patel was informed about the news at a more decent hour. He gave me the go-ahead to plan the front page. Mario Rodrigues, the newsdesk head on duty, did justice to the news.
Two editions
A two-hour gap between the first and second editions had to be used wisely and we needed reactions. I headed to The Taj, Colaba, where the Indian and Australian cricketers were put up for the following day’s Mumbai Test. I had chief photographer MM Shirodkar for company. We arrived at around 7 am to a lobby that was bare. The Indian cricketers were expected to be down two hours later to head to the Wankhede Stadium. It was their final training session before the start of a Test series that would go down as one of, if the not the most exciting one held on Indian shores.
The late Sir Donald Bradman
My big task for the hour was to get a reaction from Sachin Tendulkar. He and Shane Warne had famously met Bradman at his Adelaide home on his 90th birthday in August 1998. The house phone is what I reached for to make the call to Tendulkar. I was in luck. The operator put me through. I knew I had woken Tendulkar up by the manner in which he said hello, although there was no sign of irritation. “Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,” he exclaimed when I informed him about The Don’s demise. “Indeed, this is very sad, a very sad day.” I asked him to recall his 1998 Adelaide visit, and he said, “It was a dream come true. Not many had the opportunity to meet him and I was very fortunate to do so. He was a great man and I’ll never forget that experience for the rest of my life.”
We on Channel 9
The next thing I heard was that Channel 9 wants to feature Shirodkar and me as part of their tribute package. I spoke about how my visit to Bradman’s home in January 2000 was like a pilgrimage. Shirodkar dwelled on Bradman’s cricketing God-like status in India. Their reporter on tour, Andrew McKinlay, had requested me to ask Tendulkar to appear for an interview in the lobby, which Tendulkar agreed to do. Australia skipper Steve Waugh was ready to talk to journalists by the Taj pool.
Australia captain Steve Waugh with the press at the Taj on Feb 26, 2001
As expected, Waugh was profound. He got the news from his wife at 2.15 am. “It’s a wake-up call for all who are playing cricket — to play for the right reasons and to look to the future of the game rather than their own needs, which is one of the reasons why there has been a downfall in the game in recent times,” said Waugh. Story No. 2 that had quotes from vice-captain Adam Gilchrist too — filed. The Wankhede Stadium where both teams trained and skippers made their pre-match utterances beckoned.
There was, however, time to grab a bite at Café Mondegar with a friend and fellow journalist for company. The meal was sumptuous, but our hearts were filled with sadness. It was that kind of day — a day when cricket mourned and we cried a little.
Notes through the door: Oz team media manager how players got to know
Twenty-five years — where have they gone? I am not sure about that but I still remember the passing of Sir Donald Bradman and its aftermath as if it was yesterday. I was first alerted to the news by a call on my hotel room phone by the cricket writer for The Australian newspaper, Malcolm Conn at about 1.30am (on February 26). We were in Mumbai, two days away from the first Test of a much-anticipated series against India.
Brian Murgatroyd, the then media manager of the Australian team
After absorbing the news, my next task was to assess what to do. Waking up the players was simply not practical, but they would need to know as, come the morning, they would be inundated with requests for reactions and I did not want to be blindsided. This was a time before WhatsApp or social media so messaging them was not an option. So I chose to hand-write notes to each player and staff member and then push them under their doors so they would see it as soon as they awoke.
I do not remember the exact wording but it was something like: “Please be aware that Sir Donald Bradman has died. If you have any questions then please get in touch.” When daylight finally arrived, I met Steve Waugh and Shane Warne and they immediately understood the significance of the situation. Both had been woken by calls from Australia for their reaction already and, after breakfast and before we went to Wankhede for training, they spoke to local and Australian media near the hotel pool. And then it was a case of liaising with the Australian Cricket Board in Melbourne to ensure we were across all the protocols and arrangements back home. The team wore black armbands for the Test and won in three days. The way they performed was a fine tribute to the memory of the a player and person who transcended the sport.
- Brian Murgatroyd
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