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W. G. Grace played mostly for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club and Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) during the five seasons from 1887 to 1891. He also represented England in Test cricket.
Grace rallied somewhat during the next three seasons, despite continuing problems at Gloucestershire.
Grace made 21 first-class appearances in 1892, scoring 1,055 runs, with a highest score of 99, at an average of 31.02 with 0 centuries and 8 half-centuries. In the field, he took 14 catches and 31 wickets with a best analysis of 5–51. His bowling average was 30.90; he had 5 wickets in an innings twice. [1]
Grace made 28 first-class appearances in 1893, scoring 1,609 runs, with a highest score of 128, at an average of 35.75 with 1 century and 11 half-centuries. In the field, he took 21 catches and 22 wickets with a best analysis of 4–95. His bowling average was 38.81. [1]
Grace made 27 first-class appearances in 1894, scoring 1,293 runs, with a highest score of 196, at an average of 29.38 with 3 centuries and 5 half-centuries. In the field, he took 18 catches and 29 wickets with a best analysis of 6–82. His bowling average was 25.24; he had 5 wickets in an innings once. [1]
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 was nominally amateur as a cricketer, but he is said to have made more money from his cricketing activities than any professional cricketer. He was an extremely competitive player and, although he was one of the most famous men in England, he was also one of the most controversial on account of his gamesmanship and moneymaking.
George Frederick Grace was an English first-class cricketer active from 1866 to 1880 who played for Gloucestershire and the United South of England Eleven (USEE). He played in one retrospectively recognised Test match for England. He was born in Downend, near Bristol and died in Basingstoke, Hampshire. A right-handed batsman who bowled right arm fast roundarm, he appeared in 195 matches that are generally rated first-class for statistical purposes. In these matches, Grace scored 6,906 runs with a highest score of 189*. An outstanding fielder and occasional wicket-keeper, he held 170 catches and completed three stumpings. He took 329 wickets with a best performance of eight for 43.
Lionel Charles Hamilton Palairet was an English amateur cricketer who played for Somerset and Oxford University. A graceful right-handed batsman, he was selected to play Test cricket for England twice in 1902. Contemporaries judged Palairet to have one of the most attractive batting styles of the period. His obituary in The Times described him as "the most beautiful batsman of all time". An unwillingness to tour during the English winter limited Palairet's Test appearances; contemporaries believed he deserved more Test caps.
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.
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.
James Coupe "Jem" Shaw was an English professional cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire from 1865 to 1875 making 115 appearances. According to WG Grace, few bowlers had a better record.
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.
W. G. Grace established his reputation in 1864 and, by 1870, was widely recognised as the outstanding player in English cricket.
W. G. Grace played in 31 matches in the 1895 English cricket season, 29 of which are recognised as first-class.
Following his "Indian Summer" in 1895, W.G. Grace continued to play first-class cricket through his fiftieth birthday in 1898 and finally severed his connections with both Gloucestershire and England in 1899.
W.G. Grace was mainly associated with the new London County Cricket Club during this period. His first-class career ended in 1908 when he was nearly 60.
Following his father's death in December 1871, W. G. Grace increased his involvement with the United South of England Eleven (USEE) in order to provide more income for his mother, with whom he and his younger brother Fred were still living. Grace continued to play regularly for Gloucestershire and Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and, when required, by the Gentlemen. In the late summer of 1872, he toured North America with a team of players who all had amateur status. In the 1873 season, he performed his first season "double" of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets.
W. G. Grace played in 32 matches in the 1871 English cricket season, 25 of which are recognised as first-class. His main roles in 1871 were as captain of Gloucestershire County Cricket Club and as 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.
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. 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.
One of the most outstanding phases of W. G. Grace’s career occurred in the 1876 season, beginning with his career highest score of 344 for MCC v Kent at Canterbury in August. Two days after his innings at Canterbury, he made 177 for Gloucestershire v Nottinghamshire; and two days after that 318 not out for Gloucestershire v Yorkshire, these two innings against counties with exceptionally strong bowling attacks including Alfred Shaw, Fred Morley, Tom Emmett and Allen Hill. Thus, in three consecutive innings Grace scored 839 runs and was only out twice.
W. G. Grace qualified as a doctor in 1879 made his first appearance in Test cricket the following year, scoring the first-ever century by an England batsman.
W. G. Grace played mostly for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club and Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) during the four seasons from 1883 to 1886. He also represented England and shared his highest Test partnership in 1886, the same season in which he achieved his career-best bowling analysis.
W. G. Grace played mostly for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club and Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) during the five seasons from 1887 to 1891. He also represented England in Test cricket.
W. G. Grace visited Australia in 1873–74 as captain of Lord Sheffield's team.
William Legge Neale was an English professional cricketer who played for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club from 1923 to 1948. He was born in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, and died in Gloucester. Neale was a right-handed batter who scored 14,752 runs in 452 first-class matches with a highest score of 145* among fourteen centuries. An occasional right-arm slow bowler, he took 100 career wickets. Rated an excellent outfielder, he completed 227 catches.