On the 25 July 1914, the cricketing legend, William Gilbert ‘W.G.’ Grace, MRCS, LRCP, played the last match in which he batted for Eltham Cricket Club against Grove Park, a week after his 66th birthday. He contributed an undefeated 69 runs in Etham’s total of 155 for 6 declared, having come to the crease when Eltham were 31 for 4. Grove Park made 99 for 8 in reply.

Grace neither batted or bowled in his very last match for Eltham against Northbrook in August, a few days after the outbreak of the World War 1.

A right-handed batsman and medium-paced bowler, Grace is considered one of crickets greatest-ever players. He played first-class cricket for 44 seasons, from 1865 to 1908, during which he captained England, Gloucestershire, the Gentlemen, the MCC, the United South of England Eleven, along with several other teams.

He qualified as a medical practitioner in 1879, and as such was nominally an amateur cricketer, but it is said he made more money from cricket than any professional player.

According to statistical records, when Grace concluded his 44 seasons in 1908, he had made more than 870 appearance as a first-class cricketer. Yet despite his age and his bulk, Grace continued to play minor cricket for several years after his retirement from first-class cricket.

Born in Downend, near Bristol in July 1848, Grace died in Mottingham, London in October 1915 aged 67, and is buried at Beckenham Crematorium and Cemetery in Kent.

25 July, 2019