W. G. Grace's cricket career (1874 to 1875)

part of a series of articles on W. G. Grace

Seasons 1864 to 1870 1871 1872 to 1873 1873–74 1874 to 1875 1876 to 1877 1878 1879 to 1882 1883 to 1886 1887 to 1891 1891–92 1892 to 1894 1895 1896 to 1899 1900 to 1908

Career First-class centuries   Variations in statistics

Family E. M. Grace (brother) Fred Grace (brother) Charles Grace (son) W. G. Grace, Jr. (son)

Having toured Australia the previous winter, W.G. Grace's team landed in England on 18 May 1874 and he was quickly back into domestic cricket. The 1874 season was very successful for him as he completed a second successive "double". Gloucestershire again had a strong claim to the Champion County title although some sources have awarded it to Derbyshire and Grace himself said that it should have gone to Yorkshire.^[1] Grace made 21 first-class appearances in 1874, scoring 1,664 runs, with a highest score of 179, at an average of 52.00 with 8 centuries and 2 half-centuries. In the field, he held 35 catches and 140 wickets with a best analysis of 7–18. His bowling average was 12.71; he had 5 wickets in an innings 17 times and 10 wickets in a match 9 times.

Another good season followed in 1875 when he again completed the double with 1,498 runs and 191 wickets.^[2] This was his best season as a bowler. Grace made 26 first-class appearances in 1875, scoring 1,498 runs, with a highest score of 152, at an average of 32.56 with 3 centuries and 5 half-centuries. In the field, he held 40 catches and 191 wickets with a best analysis of 9–48. His bowling average was 12.94; he had 5 wickets in an innings 12 times and 10 wickets in a match 8 times.

References

1. Webber, County Championship, p.18.
2. Webber, Playfair, p.133.

External links

• CricketArchive – W.G. Grace

Bibliography

• Altham, H.S. (1962). A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914). George Allen & Unwin.
• Birley, Derek (1999). A Social History of English Cricket. Aurum. ISBN 1-85410-941-3.
• Bowen, Rowland (1970). Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. Eyre & Spottiswoode.
• Darwin, Bernard (1934). W. G. Grace (Great Lives Series). Duckworth.
• Grace, W.G. (1899). "W.G." – Cricketing Reminiscences and Personal Recollections. Hambledon Press. ISBN 0-9506882-0-7.
• Midwinter, Eric (1981). W.G. Grace: His Life and Times. George Allen and Unwin. ISBN 978-0-04-796054-3.
• Rae, Simon (1998). W.G. Grace: A Life. ISBN 978-0-571-17855-1.
• Webber, Roy (1958). The County Cricket Championship. Sportsman's Book Club.
• Webber, Roy (1951). The Playfair Book of Cricket Records. Playfair Books.