Monday, June 14, 2010

Best of enemies

http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/462604.html
This was a little bit of a surprise for me...
Don Bradman and Bill O'Reilly (Australia)
Great teams often thrive despite rather than because of their team
spirit. That was certainly the case with the brilliant Australian side
of the 1930s, in which Bradman and O'Reilly, Protestant and Catholic,
headed two distinct factions. Though they had total respect for each
other's ability, their differences were irreconcilable from the start.
Bradman eventually purged O'Reilly from the side and later attributed
the success of the 1948 Invincibles partly to the loyalty he was shown
in the absence of O'Reilly and Jack Fingleton - both of whom became
journalists, with Fingleton, in particular, not at all reluctant to
exercise his right of reply. When Bradman was dismissed for a duck in
his final Test innings, the press box reverberated to the sound of
both men collapsing in hysterical laughter.

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