WOTD - W. G. Grace
W. G. Grace - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Gilbert “WG” Grace (July 18, 1848 – October 23, 1915) was an English cricketer who, by his extraordinary skills, made cricket perhaps the first modern spectator sport, and who developed most of the techniques of modern batting.
He was often referred to in print by his initials, and “W.G.” became something of a sobriquet for him. He had many others, too, including a few family ones that were never used in cricketing circles (”Gilby”, “Willy”, “William” and, most commonly, “Gilbert”). His mother is described as admonishing him, after he had been dismissed playing a poor shot: “How many times, Gilbert, have I told you how to play that ball?” He was also known in his later career as “The Doctor”, “The Old Man” (although this came into being when he was still in his early thirties) or, perhaps most fittingly, “The Champion”.
Grace played Test cricket against Australia from 1880 onwards, but he was already past his peak at that stage.
He was a doctor by profession and played cricket as a (nominal) amateur throughout his career. [..read more..]
