HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Edward Mills Grace (28 November 1841 – 20 May 1911) was an English
first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...
er in the second half of the 19th century who was an
all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are consi ...
, batting right-handed and bowling
slow In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude (mathematics), magnitude of the change of its Position (vector), position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per ...
right arm
underarm The axilla (also, armpit, underarm or oxter) is the area on the human body directly under the shoulder joint. It includes the axillary space, an anatomical space within the shoulder girdle between the arm and the thoracic cage, bounded superior ...
. He played for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club and was the elder brother of W. G. and
Fred Grace George Frederick Grace (13 December 1850 – 22 September 1880) was an English first-class cricketer active from 1866 to 1880 who played for Gloucestershire and the United South of England Eleven (USEE). He played in one retrospectively recogn ...
. All three played for
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
against Australia in September 1880 two weeks before Fred Grace died. Always known by his initials, E. M. Grace controversially held amateur status but was criticised for the money he made by playing.


Life

E. M. Grace was born on Sunday, 28 November 1841 in Downend, near
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
. He was one of the great cricketers of the 1860s and 1870s, though he was overshadowed by his younger brother W. G. He was called Ted by the Grace family but elsewhere by his initials only. Grace performed one of the most amazing all-round feats ever on 15 August 1862. He carried his bat through the entire MCC innings, scoring 192 not out of a total of 344. He then took all 10 wickets in the Kent first innings for 69 runs. Although the match is recognised as first-class, it is not an official record as it was a 12-a-side game. After the 1863 season, Grace toured America with George Parr's side, but he did not perform well, being hampered by a bad hand. He then travelled to Australia on the
SS Great Britain SS ''Great Britain'' is a museum ship and former passenger steamship that was advanced for her time. She was the largest passenger ship in the world from 1845 to 1854. She was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859), for the Great We ...
with the All-England Eleven. Grace kept a diary of the voyage which is part of the collection held by the SS Great Britain Trust. The team played several matches in Australia before travelling to New Zealand where they played five games. They returned to Australia to complete the remainder of the 19 tour matches. Only one of these matches is regarded as a first-class match. He then pulled out of first-class cricket whilst he qualified as a surgeon, but returned on the formation of Gloucestershire County Cricket Club in 1871, of which he was secretary until his resignation in 1909. Thanks mainly to the combined efforts of the Grace brothers, Gloucestershire became the champion county in 1874, 1876 and 1877; they also shared the title in 1873. All three brothers were selected for the first
Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...
played in England, which was at
the Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...
in 1880. This remains the only instance of three brothers playing for England in the same Test. Grace finally dropped out of the Gloucestershire first team in 1896, aged 54, but he continued playing club cricket for Thornbury until 1909, despite increasing lameness. In first-class matches, he scored 10,025 runs at an average of 18.66, with 5 hundreds. He took 305 wickets at 20.37. However it was once calculated that, in ''all'' matches, his career tallies amounted to 12,078 wickets and 76,760 runs. In the 1863 season alone he managed 339 wickets and 3,074 runs. Grace's nickname was "The Coroner", since he was coroner for the lower division of Gloucestershire. He was married four times and sired eighteen children. His first wife, Annie, was born at Demarara. Their eldest daughter, Annie, was labelled a dumb imbecile. By 1881, they had at least six other daughters: Edith, Florie, Mina, Sarah, Alice and Sybil; and three sons Edward, Francis and Norman. His daughter Mina Gertrude Grace married stockbroker Henry Willis, son of the cricketer
Henry Willis Henry Willis (27 April 1821 – 11 February 1901), also known as "Father" Willis, was an English organ player and builder, who is regarded as the foremost organ builder of the Victorian era. His company Henry Willis & Sons remains in busin ...
.Henry WILLIS
epsomandewellhistoryexplorer.org.uk
He died 20 May 1911 in Thornbury,
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...
, England.


References


External links

*
Cricinfo article on E. M. Grace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grace, E. M. 1841 births 1911 deaths England Test cricketers English cricketers Gloucestershire cricketers Cricketers from Bristol W. G. Grace English amateur cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers English cricketers of 1826 to 1863 English cricketers of 1864 to 1889 English cricketers of 1890 to 1918 Gentlemen cricketers Gentlemen of the South cricketers North v South cricketers Orleans Club cricketers Over 30s v Under 30s cricketers North of the Thames v South of the Thames cricketers Cricketers who have taken ten wickets in an innings Gentlemen of England cricketers E.M. Gentlemen of Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers