James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual 1876

C H A P T E R V I I . MR. WILLIAM GILBERT GRACE IN 1875- A r e c o r d of a cricket season would obviously be incomplete without a table showing the individual performances of the greatest cricketer o f the age. That Mr. Grace was hardly so successful in 1875 may, to some extent, be accounted for by the weather and the condition of the ground, obviously unfavorable to batting during the season. That he was superior, however, to any other batsman of 1875 will readily be granted, while as a cricketer, batsman, bowler and field, he still stands on a pedestal above the rest of his fellows. His innings of 152 for the Gentlemen against the Players, at Lord's, was a brilliant display of batting, and in September he made q, successful finish for the United Eleven, with two wonderful scores o f 152 and not out against Eighteen of North Kent, and 210 against Eighteen of Hastings. For the Gentlemen he made 233 runs in six innings, and for the South against the North, 461 runs in fourteen innings, including not outs. His average for Gloucestershire will be found under the records of that Coun ty ,; but his greatest success was against Eighteens and Twenty-twos, as for the United South of England he scored 909 runs in 21 innings, an average of 43 runs per innings, which may fairly be described as marvellous in matches against odds. The following summary has been kindly revised and confirmed by Mr. Grace himself : APRIL . 20 At Buntingford— W. ‘G. Grace’ s Eleven v T. Hughes’ s E leven ,. MAY. 3 ,, Thornbury—Thornbury v Knole Park.. 7 ,, Cambridge—England Eleven v Camb. University 10 ,, Belfast—U .S .E .E . v Twenty-two of Belfast 14 ,, Dublin—U .S .E .E .v Eighteen of Trinity College . . 17 ,, Lord ’ s—South v North 20 ,, Loughborough—U .S .E .E . v Twenty-twro of Lough­ borough 24 ,, Lord ’s—M.C.C. and Ground v Eleven Players of Yorkshire 27 ,, Prince’s— South v North . . 31 ,, Lord’s—M.C.C. and Ground v Lancashire JUNE. 3 ,, Walsall—U .S .E .E . v Twenty-two of Walsall 7 ,, Oval—Gloucestershire v Surrey 1st 2nd inn. inn. Tl. 73c 35c 110c --------- - 110 24c --------- 24 28c 41c 69 112c ---------- 112 9c 28* 37 87c — 87 12c 71b 83 821bw 23c 105 9c 27c 36 20c 72b 92 9c 18c 27