A recently donated film reveals the only known colour footage of Sir Donald Bradman playing cricket.

The footage was shot in 1949 and shows Sir Don Bradman wandering into the middle at the SCG for what would be his second last first-class cricket match.

The striking colour footage shows Bradman working the ball off his pads on a sunny February day in Sydney. A large crowd had flocked to the SCG for their last chance to see The Don’s artistry with the willow.

The footage was shot by George Hobbs, who had worked as a cameraperson for the Department of Information during the Second World War and later for ABC TV.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE EXTRAORDINARY FOOTAGE

The film remained stored in a can marked ‘Manly and Bondi, Sydney 1949′ and gathered dust in a garage until Hobbs’ son Adrian discovered it years later.

With no equipment to develop the film, and with no real knowledge of what it contained, Adrian Hobbs donated it to the National Film and Sound archive.

NFSA curator Jeff Wray tells John Stanley the rare footage of Sir Don was only discovered when the film was undergoing a technical assessment.