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From Don to rusk
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Cricket Donald Bradman never came to India. But cookies sporting his name soon will
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Bradman is a valued name. We have to be thoughtful in using it. It is not about the biscuit really RICHARD MULVANEY
near miss The cookie crumbled for Sir Don when he was out for a duck in his last match, and he missed the magic average of 100 photo: Reuters
No living batsman will get to where he did. 99.94. And do what he did — a 309 in three sessions and a 452 in 415 minutes at 21. A 100 every third innings. And had he not fallen on the second ball in his last innings in England, 99.94 would have been 100 every innings. The impossibility would only have heightened with the 100 average. In the wonders of the world, 99.94 is one. Not being on any of the many lists these days is blasphemy. Two others are in line: Bob Woolmer's — the South African coach — impossible one: comparing Sehwag to Bradman. If technique, sheer averages and style are considered, everyone would cut Bob in half. And the other: Bradman never came to India. But do we want to see him on cookies?
We will soon be eating Bradman's Chocolate Chip Cookies manufactured by Unibic, the Australian biscuit making company that has opened its first factory here in India. The first thing you ask Richard Mulvaney, Director, The Bradman Foundation. Why Bradman of all people? Mr. Mulvaney seemed like he had a script. Sir Donald, he said, wouldn't have minded Foundation's approval of Unibic's proposal to manufacture a biscuit in his name in India, given its objective of promoting cricket and Bradman's legacy.
But cricket is already overkill in India, isn't it? "We are looking at opportunities for underprivileged youth who do not get access to cricket training."
Sir Don's request
But what was Bradman's thinking like in his last years? "I came to know him very closely. He would ask, `What can I do physically, what can I leave behind that will help you?' He signed up the IPR for his name deliberately to The Bradman Foundation to help raise money towards promotion of cricket. He thought this up." In 1994, the Foundation, with his consent, registered a range of Bradman trademarks from his name to signature, the title Sir, Don, the average 99.94 and so on that would be used in Australia and outside to generate funds to promote cricket.
Unibic approached the Foundation in August 2004 requesting use of Bradman's name for its biscuit in India. The Foundation readily agreed to the "Bradman Biscuit" proposal. Unibic didn't lose time in setting up a factory in Bangalore with Italian technology not available elsewhere in the country. Unibic India Head Michael Quinn's take on the connection between cookies and Bradman is this: "Bradman is a valued name. We have to be thoughtful in using his name. It is not about the biscuit really. The biscuit is a means to get Bradman's thought across to people. In keeping the value of his name, we have to produce a world-class product. That, we are."
Bradman's name might help the cookies sell here. But will the flour from here match Australian standards? "I understand. The flour is from here. The chocolate is from Cadbury India. The butter is from India though there are a few sacks left from Australia. The raw material we take from here will go through tests. The product has to be of international quality. It has to live up to Bradman's persona. The cookie you are looking at is international standard. It is made in India by and Indian workforce."
A close look at the pack tells you the cookies are baked in India. Some pride there? Could be, but not enough because the raw material in the cookie comes not from India alone, but Australia too. Will they be snapped up at international airports?
But Mr. Mulvaney is firm that it is not the biscuit, but cricket that matters. He points out that part of the proceeds from the Bradman's Chocolate Chip Cookies will be used to help underprivileged youth secure access to cricket through projects, and part of the proceeds from Anzac Cookies, the other brand being produced here, will be used to help war widows and soldiers in need of artificial limbs. Moreover, 100 children will get to visit the plant every day here for roughly 250 to 300 days in a year. That's approximately 25,000 children who will secure knowledge about cricket and Bradman.
PRASHANTH G.N.
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