They both rose from small NSW country towns to play cricket for NSW and Australia.

The pair have been noted for preferring to do things their own way. Neither display a textbook technique, but both have scored a stack of runs including hundreds in each of their first two innings in England.

One scored his first hundred on Bradman Oval when he was 16, the other was Sir Donald Bradman.

As history has it, Bradman had to wait until he was 17 to score his first hundred. In 1926, Bradman batted all day against Bill O’Reilly’s Wingello side to finish 234 not out.

The comparisons between rising star Phillip Hughes and Bradman are endless.

But they are also pointless.

Bradman finished his Test career with 6996 runs at 99.94. Hughes has scored 415 runs at 69.16 in his only three Tests.

It’s only early days for the 20-year old, but Hughes is keen to carve out his own place in cricket history.

“It’s very flattering just to get mentioned alongside Bradman,” Hughes said.

“It’s very flattering and exciting, but there is still a long way to go.”

Hughes was at the home of Bradman on Monday to take part in the Museum’s footage collection program for the upcoming international cricket hall of fame.

But it wasn’t the first time he’d been to the Highlands.

Hughes said Bradman Oval played an important part in launching his career four years ago.

At 16, he scored a century in the under-17 NSW country vs city match played at Bowral.

“It was a massive thrill and exciting to get a hundred at Bradman Oval at that age,” he said.

“To come here and to get a century here was special and then to make the under-17s state side.

“I’d made a few state sides before that but that’s where it starts getting very serious.”

Hughes recently returned from a successful stint of English county cricket for Middlesex.

The current Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year scored 574 runs in his three-game county spell, but has plans of scoring many more in England.

He heads back to Britain on June 19 for the upcoming Ashes series.

Bradman’s role in Ashes series is folklore.

From the bodyline series of 1932-33 to “The Invincibles” tour of 1948, no man has been more influential on matches between Australia and England.

Hughes understands comparisons to Bradman are premature.

But the youngster dares to dream that one day he may have an oval, or even a museum, named after him in Macksville.

“It’s a long way away, I’ve only had a career for a couple of years,” Hughes said.

“But you never know what could happen one day.”