Lives in Cricket No 24 - Edgar Willsher

87 expire) would ‘draw’. Who cares whether Mr W.G.Grace is married or not – whether R.Daft is a Benedict or a bachelor … Willsher’s troops of personal friends were almost certain to show; it was the public outside these he was anxious to attract … . The fixture was not held again until 1892. The authorities learnt their lesson, for when they decided to offer ‘their bowler’ another bite of the cherry, they awarded him a prime fixture in September at Mote Park, his home ground, playing for Kent against an eleven selected by W.G. himself. It had originally been arranged as Kent v Gloucestershire, but the visitors had been unable to raise a full side, and three Kent players filled in. Grace’s presence alone, at the end of a phenomenal season in which in first-class cricket he scored ten centuries and 2,739 runs, would guarantee a crowd, but it was their local hero that they would come to support, in their thousands. Grace was already a sporting god at the age of 23, but Willsher had shown his admirers what ordinary mortals could achieve through sheer hard graft. Now all it needed was the weather gods to smile on him. As it transpired, said Wisden , ‘The weather during the first two days at Mote Park was splendid, that very charming spot being seen … to the utmost possible advantage.’ The play was equally splendid, although the match was characterised by lax timekeeping according to The Field magazine; perhaps there was an end of term feel about things. Grace, as usual, dominated proceedings; indeed, he was on the field throughout the match. After six wickets in Kent’s first innings 157, he carried his bat for 81, ensuring that his team’s deficit was only 16. The second day belonged to a brilliant century by William Yardley, the scorer of a memorable century in the previous year’s Varsity match. When Kent were all out at the close of play, their lead of 255 set up the prospect of an intriguing last day chase for W.G. and his men, and as the local mills closed early on a Saturday, a particularly large attendance was anticipated. Unfortunately for Willsher, rain set in in the early afternoon, and no result was possible, a particular shame as Grace and brother Fred were together at lunch and batting ominously well. All was not lost, though, for ‘Willsher stated that the balance in his favour “would be well over £500”.’ In fact, when Bell’s Life announced the grand total on 2 March, 1872, it had swollen to £794, the equivalent of about £55,000 today. Curiously, the Lord’s match had actually netted more money than the replacement game, and the MCC was the largest single donor. The newspaper hoped that the generosity of the authorities and the public would Winding Down