Bradman reaches latest century, still unbeaten

Australians on Wednesday marked the centenary of their greatest sporting hero, cricketer Don Bradman, by celebrating the fact his unbeaten record is still untouchable 60 years after he quit the sport.

Bradman, who died in 2001 aged 92, played his last match in England in 1948 and retired with a yet-to-be topped Test batting average of 99.94.

Australian media used the occasion to revisit the legend of the "Boy from Bowral" whose run-scoring feats lifted the hopes of the country during the Depression and inspired generations of athletes to come.

Newspapers splashed images of the small-statured batsman across their pages while television bulletins re-broadcast rare snippets from interviews with "The Don", who loathed his celebrity.

In Bradman's boyhood home of Bowral, a small town south of Sydney, scores of children formed a massive 100 on the cricket oval on which he first played, and sang "Happy Birthday."

Australian captain Ricky Ponting led tributes to the global cricketing hero.

SYDNEY, Thursday, AFP