Sir Donald Bradman, with Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar, on his 90th birthday in Adelaide, in 1998. The memorable picture features in the Bradman Museum in Bowral

Sydney: It’s the 25th year of the Bradman Museum, in charming Bowral, and the men and women associated with it are “hoping” that Sachin Tendulkar will drive over after being inducted as a Bradman Honouree (International), on October 29.

Steve Waugh has been chosen as the Australia Honouree, so both Sachin and Steve are going to take centre stage at the Bradman Foundation’s annual dinner, at the SCG, that evening.

The Honourees are selected by the Foundation, of which the venerable Richie Benaud is patron. The practice of honouring legends began in 2006, five years after Sir Donald Bradman’s death.

Among Indians, Sunil Gavaskar (2010) and Rahul Dravid (2012) have already been honoured by the Foundation.

The Honourees “embody the Bradman values of courage, honour, humility, integrity and determination.”

Actually, the dinner is the principal fund-raiser for the Foundation, which runs the stunning Bradman Museum (and International Cricket Hall of Fame).

The Hall of Fame is a much more recent addition and was put together in 2010.

“Sachin has been invited to come to Bowral too... This is a special year for us... We’re hoping he’ll make it,” Belinda McMartin, assistant curator, told The Telegraph.

The drive from here to Bowral, on the F5 Freeway, takes around 90 minutes.

It will be longer and prettier if you choose to first embark on the Grand Pacific Drive, a major selling point for Destination New South Wales (DNSW), before heading inland.

[The most preferred route for the Drive is through the Royal National Park, via the Sea Cliff Bridge and Woolongong.]

Bowral stands out in the Southern Highlands for its serenity (on most days you could hear a pin falling), greenery and abundance of tulips.

All this so close to a bustling city with such a high footfall.

While Sir Don was born in Cootamundra, the family moved to Bowral when he was three years old. Much later, of course, he shifted to Adelaide.

The Foundation also manages the Bradman Oval, capable of staging competitive matches. It has a distinctly English feel, though. The Oval is adjacent to the Museum and Hall of Fame, separated by a courtyard, no more.

Collectively, it’s the Bradman Centre, on St Jude Street.

For those wanting a bite, the Foundation runs the Stumps Cafe as well, at the entrance of the Museum and Hall of Fame. The menu includes a ‘Bradman Big Breakfast’.

The Museum and Hall of Fame are divided into sections, with one devoted to the origins of cricket.

For the uninitiated, the text says: “Cricket evolved from a game developed by shepherds in southern England while guarding their sheep.”

The year? Around 1334.

Understandably, an entire section (the Bradman Gallery) has been devoted to inarguably the greatest batsman, if not cricketer.

For the late Denis Compton, no ordinary cricketer himself, Sir Don stood way above the rest.

In Compton’s words: “Sir Donald Bradman was a player who appears not once in a lifetime, but once in the lifetime of a game.”

You can’t hope for a bigger compliment.

Among other things, on display is the first bat used by Sir Don, a second-hand one, when he was 12 years old.

A bat, possibly used as far back as in 1750, is an exhibit too.

For variety, there’s a short film on the infamous Bodyline Series of 1932-33. Then, there are front-pages of newspapers in England.

A sample: The Evening News’ ‘BRADMAN 0’. That was on May 9, 1934, during Australia’s tour match against Cambridge University.

One section has been devoted to apparel and equipment donated to the Museum and Hall of Fame.

Included are shirts presented by Sachin and Sourav Ganguly. Plus an autographed pair of trousers from Anil Kumble.

Very special is the interview lounge where you can plug in for the thoughts of some of the greatest cricketers. Those interviewed, exclusively for the Museum and the Hall of Fame, include 14 Indians.

The Indians’ line-up (alphabetically): Abbas Ali Baig, Bishan Singh Bedi, Kapil Dev, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Dravid, Gavaskar, Kumble, Venkatesh Prasad, Erapalli Prasanna, Virender Sehwag, Ravi Shastri, Sachin, Dilip Vengsarkar, Gundappa Viswanath.

You can’t miss a smartly-placed chart — ‘How Tall Are You’. For the record, Sir Don stood at 172 cms; Sachin’s shorter, at 165.

Also between the Museum and Hall of Fame and the Bradman Oval is the Lady Jessie Bradman Garden, where the ashes of Sir Don and his wife, who pre-deceased him, were scattered after his death in 2001.

It’s the quietest corner in Bowral.

Toyota are the automotive sponsors of the Foundation and it’s not unusual to see the Innova lookalikes move around Bowral with a crowd-pulling slogan — ‘Don’t Miss The Bradman Experience’.

The Museum and Hall of Fame stay open 363 days in a year. Exceptions being Good Friday and Christmas.

Sydney won’t host India in the upcoming World Cup, unless we qualify either for the first quarter final or the second semi-final, at the SCG, but DNSW is confident fans from India are still going to visit the Opera House and Darling Harbour here.

Once in Sydney, it would be criminal not to make a trip to the Bradman Museum and International Cricket Hall of Fame.

Call that a pilgrimage.