WG Grace was a not infrequent visitor to Ireland but, though he is the subject of at least eight biographies and gave his name to two so-called autobiographies, scant mention is made of his Irish connections, both cricket and otherwise. This article is an attempt to set the record straight and to provide the missing chapter from those books.
WG's first visit came in September 1873, when, in front of the largest crowd to have attended a cricket match in Ireland, he opened the batting for the United South of England XI (USE) against a Leinster XXII at Observatory Lane.
The USE had begun as one of several professional "Travelling Elevens" founded in imitation of and/or opposition to the All England XI. However it was to become during the 1870s a means of WG and his brothers, who contrived to preserve their amateur status, making part of their living out of the game.
In this first match, WG may have rather disappointed his Irish admirers. Though he top scored in the first innings of a drawn match and made runs in the second, his scores were only 36 and 40, the second innings taking three hours as he played out time, Leinster having enforced the follow on.
His second innings was ended by a fellow medical man, Andrew Abraham, a medium pacer who played two "odds" matches for Ireland as a wicket keeper! He later settled in England playing for both Northumberland and Durham. Top score in the USE second innings was WG's youinger brother GF - Fred Grace who made 54.
If WG had let down his supporters in 1873, he more than made up for it the following season, again at Rathmines. Winning the toss, the hosts' XXII led off with a useful 245, Tom Cox, an army surgeon, making 50, with the Grace brothers and James Lillywhite, who was to become England's first Test captain four years later, sharing the wickets.
WG bowled slow round arm leg breaks, which turned only slightly but lured many batsmen to their doom.
USE then lost three quick wickets, before WG and Fred came together. Together they put on over 200, Fred making 103. WG hit 153, an innings regarded at the time as the best ever seen in Ireland. They ran the fielders ragged, making light of the fact that there were 22 of them.
USE reached 431, the highest score them made against a XXII. It was surpassed in 1876 when WG made 400* against XXII of Grimbsy.
His appetite for Irish runs (and judging by the admission charges, Irish cash), whetted, spectators saw Grace and the USE back in Ireland the following May but playing at new venues.
Against XXII of NICC at Ormeau, he, Fred and Lillywhite again shared the wickets but North posted 220, with half the side reaching double figures.
They then bowled their visitors out for 121, with Grace falling for 28. He made 41, the top score, in the follow on when a match saving total of 182 was posted.
Grace fell to the NICC professional Arnold Rylott in each innings. Rylott was a fast left arm round armer who played for many years for Leicestershire in their pre first class days. He also went with the Irish team to North America in 1879 as an umpire. He later wrote a book of verse, which poetry lovers are advised to avoid.
The match ended in a draw, USE then moved south to play XXII of Dublin University in College Park, the ground on which Grace was to have most of his Irish cricket.
He won the toss and, opening the batting with his cousin WR Gilbert, made 112, before being bowled by Howard Jackson.
Jackson, who was to play for Ireland twenty years later earns a place in cricket history as the only Monaghan man to dismiss the Champion! He was also a rugby international.
Gilbert made 72, but the rest of the batting failed, with the final total being 248. Gilbert, an amateur, later fell on hard financial times. He turned professional to meet this crisis, but was no better off. He resorted to crime, being discovered stealing from his team-mates in the dressing room. His cousins hushed the matter up and bundled him off to Canada, where the rest of his life was, apparently blameless. He became one of the leading batsmen in the colony.
Grace continued to dominate the match with 19 of the 42 wickets falling to him. USE returned home victorious by 8 wickets.
The following year, the USE returned to College Park and WG was most impressed by the 18 year old David Trotter who made 109 for the University Past and Present XXII. He himself made 32 in the USE's first innings. When they were forced to follow on he struck a belligerent 88 to save the match.
WG was back in College Park two years later, with the hosts this time playing as a XV. It was not one of his better matches as a batsman, being run out for 11 in the first innings. USE reached 173, top scores being Billy Midwinter with 64.
Billy was the first globe trotting cricketer, the only man to play on both sides in Ashes Tests. He died young, only 39, in a Melbourne Asylum, having been driven insane by the tragic deaths of his wife and young children.
WG had failed with the bat. He now bowled the hosts out for 96, taking 9/43 in 47.2 four ball overs. He was on 15* in the USE second innings when rain intervened.
Twelve years elapsed before the Doctor returned to College Park and Ireland in 1890.
By this time the University played on level terms, though they did field a Past and Present XI. WG led a team described in the hosts' score book as Dr Grace's South of England XI.
The University were captained by the young JM - Jack - Meldon, who claimed, many years later that Grace hoodwinked him at he toss by calling, "Woman", as Jack spun the coin. As heads was Victoria and tails Britannia, he could not lose. This may have happened but the University batted first and it was one of WG's maxims never to insert the opposition.
Meldon also said that when he was captaining Ireland against MCC at Lord's many years later, Grace invited him to toss the coin in order to repeat the subterfuge. However Grace was not playing when Jack led Ireland at Lords in 1893 and Meldon was not captain when Grace did lead the hosts there.
The 1890 match gave Grace a rather easy win after a closely contested first innings. He did top score with 34 in his side's first innings of 124 and was 14* when an 8 wicket victory was recorded.
He was back in the Park in 1894, leading a near full strength Gloucestershire side to a 9 wicket victory over the University.
WG was, however not happy. He condemned the state of the wicket and was highly critical of the umpiring The latter may well have been because he fell leg before to the gangling figure of Archie Penny, by some distance the University's best bowler, when going well on 44. However as the same umpires gave him decisions that removed not only Penny, but the hosts' best batsmen, Lucius and Arthur Gwynn, it seems that he had little to complain about.
Three years later Gloucestershire were back for WG to play his last significant innings in Ireland.
Winning the toss, he opened the batting making 121 in an innings which recalled some of his best days. He was eventually bowled round his legs by a high tossed leg break from Philip Meldon - Jack's cousin - who was later to have a most distinguished military career. Gloucestershire totaled 296 and won by an innings.
As the match finished early, a one day game was started. No one, apart from Lucius Gwynn who made 50 was very interested, and rain brought relief when it arrived.
WG did not play an Irish side again until 1902. By this time he had retired from Test cricket and had also left Gloucestershire somewhat acrimoniously.
He became instead Captain / Secretary of the newly formed London County Cricket Club which played at Crystal Palace in the shadow of the great building. WG's secretarial duties were nomianl, their financial rewards considerable.
The County played both first class and minor matches and were the opposition chosen for Ireland's inaugural first class match in May 1902.
The Irish team was captained by Sir Timothy O'Brien who had scored over 11,000 first class runs, mostly for Middlesex and was highly regarded by Grace. The feeling was hardly mutual. O'Brien's quick temper had led to the two men almost coming to blows both off and on the field. Fortunately both the Crystal Palace match and the MCC game at Lord's which followed, passed off without any repeat occurences.
Ireland defeated London County heavily, mainly thanks to a wet wicket which was superbly exploited by Tom Ross, one of Ireland's best bowlers of all time.
Apart from Grace and the former Australian captain WL Murdoch, the home batsmen could not cope with him. In the first innings they put together an opening partnership of 75 before Ross bowled WG for 32. They were all out for 92. In the second innings Grace again countered Ross with 19, his side's highest score.
At a dinner during the match WG complained that Ireland's opening bat Dan Comyn had tried to intimidate the umpires into giving him out. A saying about pots and kettles comes to mind! It seems that WG may have been joking. Certainly he greatly enjoyed Jack Meldon's Percy French parody about the alleged incident, and he became friendly with Dan.
Ross was again to the fore in the MCC match which followed. WG with 44 was top scorer in MCC's first innings 182 and was, again, one of the few to shape well against the Phoenix man. However Ireland fared even worse against the Australian Albert Trott and were lucky to escape with a rain enforced draw.
Trott remains, at the time of writing, the only man to hit a six over the Lord's pavilion. He ruined his own benefit match - he had several seasons with Middlesex - by taking two hat tricks in an innings - and later took his own life.
1903 saw Grace's final cricket visit to Ireland. He led London County at his favourite College Park ground against the University. In the first innings of 271 he made 33 before falling to the leg spin of SH Crawford, who later played for Clontarf with success. The University replied with 139.
The stage was set for what was widely believed to be WG's last innings in Dublin. Alas it was not a long one. To the first ball he received he pushed a tame return catch to future Church of Ireland Bishop Tom Harvey a medium pace off spinner. However even this simple statement gives rise to controversy.
According to WP Hone's Cricket in Ireland, Grace held himself back in the order for the benefit of the Saturday afternoon crowd.
This is not borne out by the scorecard which shows him at No. 1. Further the fall of wickets indicated that a first ball dismissal could only have occured at the start of the innings. It seems that he opened with Murdoch who took strike against Harvey, took strike and scored a single. Then Grace's dismissal followed in the way described.
That was not the end of the matter. In 1962 the Rev Robin Gwynn died. He was a brother of Lucius and Arthur and of Jack who captained the University in the 1903 match.
Robin was a good cricketer, though not in the class of the other three. However when his obituary appeared in Wisden and The Irish Times, Harvey was forgotten and Robin credited with the wicket. This was at least better than T he Times which gave the glory to Lucius. Robin was not playing in the match but was at least on the ground as a spectator. Lucius had died of TB the previous December!
The other reason for doubting Hone's version is that it is highly unlikely that Grace batted on the Saturday afternoon as the University saved the match by batting for 72 overs. Another Meldon cousin - George J - making 118 before WG had him stumped. The Old Man finished the match by dismissing Crawford, the seventh wicket to fall.
He then took his team to The Mardyke to play Ireland and won the toss. He was out in the first over caught from the off spin of Bob Lambert.
Legend (which appears to be at least fact based) has it that he refused to leave, attempting to browbeat the umpire into ruling him not out. As O' Brien was leading Ireland a serious incident might have resulted. Sir George Colthurst, President of Cork County, came onto the field and led the reluctant Doctor off.
The visitors totaled 231 to which Ireland replied with 291. WG, recovering his good humour, took the first three in the order and O'Brien, no doubt to Sir Tim's displeasure.
At least he reached a half century as did the No 3. Pascoe Stuart. Grace presented the latter with a bat in recognition of a fine innings, but the recipient was surprised to find that he was supposed to pay for it!
Grace came in at 8 in the second innings and, in his final innings in Ireland, made 24. The match ended in a draw with Ireland collapsing but surviving.
Later in the summer, back at Crystal Palace, WG played his final innings against an Irish side.
Appropriately it was against Leinster (the opposition for his first match against an Irish side), for whom, also appropriately, Andrew Abraham, the medical man, was playing.
WG came in down the order, his son opening. The Old Man almost signed off with a hundred, being bowled by EJ Donavon for 93.
Bob Lambert made a fifty for Leinster and was asked to play a match for the County. He made another fifty. London County folded the following year though Grace continued to play, ever more spasmodically, until 1914.
He had other influences on Irish Cricket, though not to the extent of taking part, with his brothers in a meeting of a fields sports section of the British association for the Advancement of Science in Dublin in August 1878. The report of this alleged meeting, which appeared in Saunders Newsletter is a hoax, an elaborate Victorian joke, though reprinted, in good faith by Hone, in Cricket in Ireland. When read in the knowledge that it is indeed a spoof, the report is quite amusing. In Hone's defence it must be said that he is not the only later historian to have been deceived by the leg pull. This writer must also plea gulity and express his thanks to Ger Siggins for pointing out the deception.
He had ensured that successful Irish players got a look in in English cricket. Ross and Lucius Gwynn were both picked for Gentlemen v Players and David Trotter for North v South.
WG was, perhaps surprisingly, a visitor to Coole Park in Galway, home of the famous literary figure Lady Gregory, a house more associated with WB Yeats than WG Grace.
It appears that his connection was her Ladyship's son Robert, a fine leg spinner and all round sportsman, who, having played some minor cricket with Grace, invited him there. According to local tradition the attraction was out of season shooting!
Whether Grace participated in the bizarre games of cricket played on Coole Park's lawns is not known. Bernard Shaw did, but, despite his egalitarian principles, insisted that a footman do his fielding for him!
The First World War claimed Robert Gregory's life. He was, of course Yeats' Irish Airman, brought down by "friendly fire" on the Italian front, though, to the best of my knowledge, no American aircraft were in the vicinity.
It helped speed WG's demise also. Sir Home Gordon, a well known cricket writer and highly inaccurate statstician of the game, visited him in 1915 at his home in Eltham in Outer London and found him terrified of Zeppelins.
"But WG," said Sir Home, "you were not frightened by the fastest bowlers in the game. The Kaiser's tricks should not bother you."
"Ah," replied the Old Man, "I could see them. I can't see these beggars."
He died on 23 October 1915.
Copyright: Cover Point
