The Don's grandson Tom and acclaimed sculptor Tom Bass unveiled a bronze bust of the man recognised as Australia's and the world's greatest batsman.

Bass, now 92 the age Bradman was when he died and whose much celebrated works include the winged figure named Ethos in Canberra's Civic Square, recounted the day he met his hero while he, Bass, was a teenage shop boy at Mick Simmons sports store in Sydney.

''This was at the time of the Great Depression,'' said Bass. ''People needed the fact of winning to lift their spirits and Bradman did this time and again.''

Mr Bradman, a federal public servant who moved to Canberra earlier this year, said that in his cricketing days he dealt with his grandpa's fame by becoming a bowler, not a batsman.

But the pressure was still there. ''It was always going to be a factor. You rely a lot on the fact the blokes around you know you for what you are and not your name.''

Like Sir Donald, Cootamundra is putting more runs on the board as the birthplace of the international cricketing phenomenon whose Test average was 99.94, with the shire council commissioning the Tom Bass Studio to create 30 new busts of Australia's Test cricket captains.

These have been added to 13 previously produced by sculptor Carl Valerius, from the neighbouring town of Harden, to commemorate the batting immortal's 90th birthday in 1998. Among them was one of Johnny Mullagh, whose Aboriginal name was Unaarrimin. Mullagh led the Aboriginal XI that toured England in 1868, the first Australian cricket team, black or white, to play overseas.

Set out along a curving path under Jubilee Park's towering gums, the busts form The Captains' Walk, which Cootamundra Mayor Paul Baybrooks said had been inspired by Ballarat's Prime Ministers' Avenue.

At the Bradman tribute yesterday, schoolchildren performed a piece with cricket bats and tennis balls; recited The Don, by Patricia Caskie; and sang the national anthem as well as John Williamson's Sir Don:

''When Aunty Duckie danced with Donald Bradman. She said it was the highlight of her life.

''That wizard of the willow swept her off her feet. Along with all Australians, every man on the street.''

Mr Bradman, who was born in Adelaide and saw his famous grandfather every day after school, said Australians had revered Sir Don not only for his ability to hit centuries but for the values that shaped his life.

''There are parallels between life and cricket, and there are ways of behaving on the field, but more your behaviour and attitude to what you have achieved and maintaining an integrity and a modesty which was an incredible achievement, given the adulation that was poured upon him.

''He didn't become a different person because of it.''