W. G. Grace

William Gilbert Grace (July 18 1848–October 23 1915) was an English cricketer who, by his extraordinary skills, made cricket perhaps the first modern spectator sport, and who developed most of the techniques of modern batting.

Records and statistics

Highest score

In first-class matches Grace's highest score was 344, made for the M.C.C. v. Kent at Canterbury in August 1876; two days later he made 177 for Gloucestershire v. Notts, and two days after that 318 not out for Gloucestershire v. Yorkshire, the latter two innings against counties with exceptionally strong bowling attacks. Thus in three consecutive innings Grace scored 839 runs, and was only out twice. The 344 was the first triple century scored in first class cricket. William Ward's 278 scored in 1820 had stood as a record for 56 years, within a week Grace bettered it twice.

Related Topics:
Kent - Notts - Yorkshire - Innings - William Ward

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His 344 was the third highest individual score made in a big match in England up to the end of 1901. He also scored 301 for Gloucestershire v. Sussex at Bristol in August 1896. His 318 against Yorkshire stood as a Gloucestershire record for 128 years until it was broken by Craig Spearman's 341 against Middlesex in June 2004.

Related Topics:
1901 - Sussex - Craig Spearman - Middlesex

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Double centuries

Grace made over 200 runs on ten occasions, the most notable perhaps being in 1871, when he performed the feat twice, each time in benefit matches, and each time in the second innings, having been each time got out in the first over of the first innings. Against Middlesex, he carried his bat for 221, and sat up the whole night in between beside the bed of a patient.

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Centuries

Grace scored over 100 runs on 124 occasions, the hundredth score being 288, made at Bristol for Gloucestershire v. Somersetshire in 1895.

Related Topics:
Somersetshire - 1895

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He made every figure from 0 to 100, on one occasion closing the innings when he had made 93, the only total he had never made between these limits.

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In 1871 he made ten centuries, ranging from 268 to 116.

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In the matches between the Gentlemen and Players he scored three figures fifteen times, and at every place where these matches have been played.

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He made over 100 in each of his first appearances at Oxford and Cambridge.

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Three times he made over 100 in both innings of the same match:

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• at Canterbury, in 1868, for South v. North of the Thames, 130 and 102 not out;
• at Clifton, in 1887, for Gloucestershire v. Kent, 101 and 103 not out;
• at Clifton, in 1888, for Gloucestershire v. Yorkshire, 148 and 153.

Partnerships and other miscellaneous statistics

In 1869, playing at the Oval for the Gentlemen of the South v. the Players of the South, Grace and B.B. Cooper put on 283 runs for the first wicket, Grace scoring 180 and Cooper 101. In 1886 Grace and Scotton put on 170 runs for the first wicket of England v. Australia; this occurred at the Oval in August, and Grace's total score was 170.

Related Topics:
1869 - 1886 - August

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In consecutive innings against the Players from 1871 to 1873 he scored 217, 77, and 112, 117, 163, 158, and 70.

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He only twice scored over 100 in a big match in Australia, nor did he ever make 200 at Lord's, his highest being 196 for the M.C.C. v. Cambridge University in 1894.

Related Topics:
Cambridge University - 1894

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Season totals

Grace's highest aggregates were 2,739 (1871), 2,622 (1876), 2,346 (1895), 2,139 (1873), 2,135 (1896), and 2,062 (1887).

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Other feats

Grace scored three successive centuries in first-class cricket in 1871, 1872, 1873, 1874, and 1876.

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Playing against Kent at Gravesend in 1895, he was batting, bowling, or fielding during the whole time the game was in progress, his scores being 257 and 73 not out.

Related Topics:
Gravesend - 1895

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His portrait was used as the face of God in the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

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He once hit a ball 36 miles after a shot landed on a passing steam train.

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While playing against F. Townsend's XI at Cheltenham in 1874, Grace agreed to bat with a broomstick while everyone else was to use a normal bat. In spite of this, he made 35 runs, the second highest score.

Related Topics:
Cheltenham - 1874

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The Double

Grace scored over 1,000 runs and took over 100 wickets in seven different seasons:

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• in 1874, 1,664 runs and 139 wickets;
• in 1875, 1,498 runs and 191 wickets;
• in 1876, 2,622 runs and 130 wickets;
• in 1877, 1,474 runs and 179 wickets;
• in 1878, 1,151 runs and 152 wickets;
• in 1885, 1,688 runs and 117 wickets;
• in 1886, 1846 runs and 122 wickets.

(statistics taken from The Association of Cricket Statisticians & Historians. Note that Cricket Archive shows that Gilbert Grace took 153, not 152, first-class wickets in 1878.

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Bowling records

Grace never captured 200 wickets in a season, his highest record being 191 in 1875. Playing against Oxford University in 1886, he took all the wickets in the first innings, at a cost of 49 runs, having scored 104 in his only innings of the match.

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