Shafeen Majid
If ever a sign captured the impact of a cricket player, it was one outside an English county ground in the late 1800s which read -
“Cricket Match, Admission Threepence
If WG Grace Plays, Admission Sixpence”
William Gilbert Grace, better known by the gentlemanly initials “W. G.”, was born on 18 July, 1848 and became cricket’s first superstar. Grace’s career ran for over forty years – his first class debut came at the age of 16 and he was over 50 when he played his last game – and in that time, through personality, appearance and skill, he came to virtually transcend the game itself.
Grace was an all-rounder who bowled round arm pace in his youth, though the leg-spin which he turned to is what he is mostly remembered for in that department. Nearly 3,000 wickets at an average under 20 suggest he had his moments, but it is mainly as a batsman that he shone.
He was a front foot player, as was the fashion of the time. “I don’t like defensive shots, you can only score three off them,” he once scoffed. Unlike modern players, Grace did not go across his stumps much, but rather just forward and less often, back. It was considered unsporting to use the body as a second line of defence in those days, and while no angel, Grace was a sportsman.
The good doctor was something of a natural. On pitches that resembled a mine-field more than a cricket strip, the bounce and turn of the ball tended to be unpredictable and “shooters” (the ball that skims along the ground like a stone thrown over ice) were a hazard faced by all batsman. A youngster once asked Grace how to cope with such deliveries.
“You put the bat to the ball,” replied the confused doctor.
For all his ability, it was as much Grace’s stand-out appearance and mischievous personality that made him memorable. Six feet two inches tall, portly and adorned with an impressive beard, Grace caught the eye. Stories of his gamesmanship are legendary.
After being bowled so that just one bail was dislodged, Grace was apt to try to replace the bail and claim that the wind had caused it. Sometimes the ploy worked, as when he continued his innings against Charles Kortright, the fastest bowler in the world. Later, Kortright knocked two stumps out of the ground, and as Grace departed, called out, “Where are you going, Doc? One’s still standing”. Sometimes, it did not, as when the umpire countered Grace’s explanatory, “It was a windy day” with, “Very windy. Make sure it doesn’t blow your cap off as you walk back to the pavilion”.
For all the gamesmanship, he was in a class of his own. “I put the ball where I likes, and the old man, he puts it where he likes,” was master length bowler Albert Shaw’s experience of bowling to Grace. Nor was the doctor unaware of his appeal. Once given out in front of a sell-out crowd, he told the umpire “the crowd’s come to watch me bat, not you umpire”, and continued his innings insouciantly. No doubt, to the crowds delight.
