Folklore of W.G. Grace

Mom called him Willie and Gilbert by father. Downend born, one of the greatest the game has ever produced. W. G., The Doctor, The Champion – the man with a beard had many nicknames. A professional cricketer, qualified medical practitioner, champion hurdler, footballer, golfer and the list goes on.

The career:

Grace was an opening batsman. His cricketing career spanned across 44 seasons from 1865 to 1908. It’s quite astonishing that he played first-class cricket till he was 60. Over his long cricketing career, he played for 29 teams that includes 28 domestic teams and of course England National Team.

The legacy:

He was a trendsetter. Earlier batsmen used to play either forward or back. He had adapted both forward and back technique and countered the attack according to the length of the delivery. Ranjitsinhji referred him ‘The Bible of Batsmanship’.

Image Credit: wikimedia

There are many incidents, stories, folklores on Grace. We will talk about two famous folklores which intrigue us.

The Bails out:

Grace hated being dismissed early. Once he bowled cheaply in a match and bails were scattered all around. He took the bails from ground, placed on top of wickets and continued batting as if nothing happened. No one dared to ask him anything.
Similarly, he sympathized if someone got knocked out early. He was fielding in slip and witnessed flying bails. Immediately he collected and placed them neatly on top of wickets and shouted at the umpire, “Oh! the nasty breeze.”

93*:

The batsmen are most vulnerable during 90s. The nervous 90s got many of them. However, while batting at 93, he declared the innings. It had raised many eyebrows. Later he clarified, ’93’ was the only score between 0 and 100 which he had never scored and decided to declare the innings when he was batting at 93 to complete a cycle. Oh! a bizarre milestone indeed.

There are many more on W.G. but that’s for another time. Stay happy, stay blessed and keep dreaming cricket. Thank you for reading.

References:

Featured Image Credit:

• wikimedia (resized as per the need)