Derek Alan Bradley
1946-2025
It is with great sadness that I share the news of the passing of our friend and fellow Quokka, Derek ‘Zoolander’ Bradley. As I’m sure everyone who knew him would agree, Zoo was a wonderful man, and he will be deeply missed by us all. If you ever met him, you’ll know how effortlessly he could take you from being a stranger to feeling as though you’d known him your entire life—often in a matter of seconds.
Zoo was, of course, a huge fan of cricket, wine, and travel—making him the perfect Quokka tourist. One incident that perfectly captured his infectiously outgoing nature occurred when the Quokkas toured Bucharest. While riding the underground, he struck up conversations with several random passengers—whether they wanted to or not—and by the end of the journey he had them sharing their life stories and laughing like old friends. As Robin mentioned at the funeral, this eagerness to introduce himself to complete strangers used to embarrass him as a 14-year-old. Yet Zoo’s ability to make people feel welcome was a rare gift, and it’s wonderful to see that this warmth has been passed on to his son.
It’s not just Skip who gained from knowing Zoo. I think every Quokka has benefitted from his sage advice and words of wisdom—whether about the finer points of leg-spin bowling or some of the more important things in life. Personally, I loved listening to his thoughts on football, be it his beloved Birmingham or my own team, but especially enjoyed his failed attempts to appear knowledgeable about Aston Villa signings and Eastern European football.
If you were not aware, Zoo was a fine cricketer in his day, opening the batting and keeping wicket for X in the Sheffield Premier League. He held the league’s opening-partnership record for several decades, although Rob is unsure of the exact figure as it tended to grow with each retelling. Even in his later years, and despite having undergone two knee reconstructions, he was still probably the best batsman the Quokkas had. I remember him and fellow retiree rescuing us against the Whalers with a tenth wicket stand that produced more runs than the previous nine Quokkas combined. We have lost a brilliant member of our club and Quokkas matches, tours and events simply won’t be the same without him. Our thoughts go to his wife Jean, Skip and the entire Bradley family.
Keep Right On. Seagull