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William Gilbert Grace was an English amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players. He played first-class cricket for a record-equalling 44 seasons, from 1865 to 1908, during which he captained England, Gloucestershire, the Gentlemen, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the United South of England Eleven (USEE), and several other teams.
1947 was the 48th season of County Championship cricket in England. It is chiefly remembered for the batting performances of Denis Compton and Bill Edrich who established seasonal records that, with the subsequent reduction in the number of first-class matches, will probably never be broken. Their form was key to their team Middlesex winning the County Championship for the first time since 1921, although they were involved in a tight contest for the title with the eventual runners-up Gloucestershire, for whom Tom Goddard was the most outstanding bowler of the season. Compton and Edrich were assisted by the fact that it was the driest and sunniest English summer for a generation, ensuring plenty of good batting wickets.
1888 was the 102nd season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). There was a complete contrast to the previous sunlit summer with its record-breaking run-getting: this time the summer was exceptionally cool and wet, resulting in the dominance of bowlers with many records for wicket-taking set.
1889 was the 103rd season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The number of balls per over was increased from four to five. The four-ball over had been used since time immemorial.
From May to September in 1878, an Australian cricket team made the inaugural first-class tour of England by a representative overseas side. In October, the Australians played additional matches in the US and Canada on their return journey. The tour followed one made by an England team to Australia in 1876–77, during which the first matches retrospectively given Test match status were played. None of the 1878 matches had international status, nevertheless the tour proved to be such an outstanding financial and sporting success that the future of international cricket was assured.
1865 was the 79th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). W. G. Grace made his debut as a first-class player and the new Lancashire County Cricket Club played its first match.
1874 was the 88th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). W. G. Grace become the first player to perform the “double” in an English season. In 21 first-class matches, he scored 1,664 runs and took 140 wickets.
1876 was the 90th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Gloucestershire reclaimed the unofficial "Champion County" title. A relatively dry summer and improvements to pitches via the heavy roller saw several batting records broken.
1877 was the 91st season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
1879 was the 93rd season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Lancashire claimed a share of the Champion County title for the first time.
1880 was the 94th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The second tour by a representative Australian team was undertaken and they took part in the (retrospective) first Test match to be played in England. County cricket was dominated by the Nottinghamshire bowlers Alfred Shaw and Fred Morley.
1881 was the 95th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). There was a first outright title win by Lancashire and a strike by the Nottinghamshire professionals, led by their main bowler Alfred Shaw, over benefits and terms.
1882 was the 96th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). England lost to Australia in the match which gave rise to the Ashes.
1883 was the 97th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). There was the first of four successive titles won by Notts, and the beginning of the "Great Revival" of Surrey, who had been among the weaker counties since 1866.
1884 was the 98th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Australia toured England to compete for the Ashes. It was the seventh test series between the two sides. Fred Spofforth, an overseas bowler, took the most wickets, but England avenged its loss to the touring Australians in 1882 winning 1 test to 0.
1885 was the 99th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). It was the third in succession in which Nottinghamshire was proclaimed the champion county.
1887 was the 101st season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Surrey was the leading county for the first time in over twenty years, a status they would retain until 1892.
The Australia national cricket team toured England in 1884. The team is officially termed the Fourth Australians, following three previous tours in the 1878, 1880 and 1882 seasons. The 1884 tour was a private venture by the thirteen players who each invested an agreed sum to provide funding, none of Australia's colonial cricket associations being involved. Billy Murdoch captained the team and George Alexander acted as player-manager. The Australians played a total of 32 matches in England, 31 of which have first-class status.
Variations in published cricket statistics have come about because there is no official view of the status of cricket matches played in Great Britain prior to 1895 or in the rest of the world prior to 1947. As a result, historians and statisticians have compiled differing lists of matches that they recognise as (unofficially) first-class. The problem is significant where it touches on some of the sport's first-class records, especially in regards to the playing career of W. G. Grace.
W. G. Grace is believed to have considered retirement from cricket before the 1878 season after he was seriously injured in a shooting accident the previous autumn which nearly cost him the sight of an eye. Having recovered, he reconsidered and in 1878 played in 33 matches, 24 of which are generally recognised as first-class. His main roles in the season were captain of Gloucestershire County Cricket Club and both match organiser and captain of the United South of England Eleven (USEE). In addition, he represented Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the Gentlemen in the Gentlemen v Players fixture and the South in the North v South series. 1878 was a cold, wet summer and not one of Grace's better seasons as a batsman, but he was very effective in such conditions as a right arm medium pace roundarm bowler and completed a sixth successive "double" by scoring 1,151 runs and taking 152 wickets in the recognised first-class matches.
References
- 1 2 Wynne-Thomas, Peter; The Rigby A-Z of Cricket Records; p. 53 ISBN 072701868X
- ↑ First Class Batting in England in 1878
- ↑ First Class Bowling in England in 1878
- ↑ Webber, Roy; The Playfair Book of Cricket Records; p. 177. Published 1951 by Playfair Books.
- ↑ Gentlemen v Players at the Oval in 1878
- ↑ Frindall, Bill (editor); The Wisden Book of Cricket Records (Fourth edition); pp. 285–289. ISBN 0747222037