Ashes hero No. 44 - Bill O'Reilly

Don Bradman said that O'Reilly was the best bowler he ever faced, which is all the testimony you need about his quality. They first played each other in 1925 when the 20-year-old O'Reilly, training to be a teacher in Sydney, was suddenly called up (yanked off a train, O'Reilly said) to play for Wingello against Bowral. As was the custom, the match was played for a day and resumed a week later. After Day 1, the 17-year-old Bradman was 234 not out but when the match continued seven days on, O'Reilly bowled him first ball with a leg break that turned from leg stump to hit off. "Suddenly cricket was the best game in the whole wide world," O'Reilly would write years later.