It could be said that W.G. Grace was one of the pioneers of cricket. He was one of the first players to make a mark on the game and made the game popular. He would play until 1914 when he was 66-years-old.
One hundred and fourteen years after the legendary Victorian era cricketer's last match - and more than a century after his death - he has had 685 runs, 67 wickets and two centuries wiped from the records books.
In a ruthless move, the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack has decided that 10 of Grace's matches weren't at first-class level and, as a result, updated its records.
Grace, regarded as one of biggest 'celebrities' of Victorian England, can rest easily, however.
He still has the small matter of 54 211 first-class runs; 2 809 wickets; 876 catches and 124 centuries to his name from a career that spanned 44 seasons between 1865 and 1908.
The man was referred to as "the father of the game" and the "beard that was feared."
The greatest of the world's cricketers, as a batsman, supreme; as a bowler, great. In his prime he towered above his contemporaries. From 1850 to 1866, the Professionals won 23 out of 26 matches against the Amateurs. In the next series of 26 matches; the Amateurs won 19 and the Professionals 1.
This remarkable change was entirely due to the black-bearded hero 'W.G.' A terror to bowlers, he was worshipped by the crowd.
When only sixteen years old, he went in first and opened the bowling for the Gentlemen v. Players at Lord's; on his last appearance for the Gentlemen, in 1906, at The Oval, he made 74 on his 58th birthday. In 84 matches against the Players, he scored over 6 000 runs and took 271 wickets.
In 1880, he scored 152 against Australia in the First Test match played in this country and was the automatic first choice and opening batsman for England until 1899.
In 1876, he scored 839 runs in three consecutive innings against Kent, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire. Nineteen years later, he made 1 000 runs in May.
On fourteen occasions, he scored a century and took 10 or more wickets in the same match. In prowess and personality alike, he dominated the cricket field; he was the kindest of men and no Englishman was better known.
In Wheatstone Hall, Gloucester, Colonel D. C. Robinson, a former captain of the County team, presided at a meeting and C. L. Townsend, a fine all-rounder, opened an exhibition of trophies used by W.G. and other players in memorable games.
Among the company was Paish, another contemporary of Grace, Gilbert Jessop wrote that W.G. was his hero as a boy and remained so still. Walter Hammond sent a menu card of the banquet held in 1895 to celebrate Grace's 100th century and the Gloucestershire XI, headed by B. O. Allen, signed a letter of good wishes. As The Times correspondent wrote, This exhibition shows how W. G. Grace in this century year of his birth is remembered with pride and affection.
At Bristol, where his old county met Derbyshire, the W.G. centenary was celebrated by the Duke of Beaufort, the Gloucestershire President, unveiling a memorial plaque on the Nevil Road gates, which are known as Grace's Gates.
When W. G. Grace passed away in 1915, Sydney Pardon, then Editor of Wisden, paid the highest eulogy possible to the greatest figure who ever trod the cricket field and after the centenary of his birth one may assert confidently that no one has risen to equal fame in the world of cricket.
As batsman, bowler and fielder, he remains supreme, while to those who knew his attributes from watching many of his wonderful performances; his position stands out with all the more clearness.
His greatness by means of eyesight commenced in 1884 at The Oval Test match in which Australia scored 551. How W.G. kept wicket and caught Midwinter off the Hon. Alfred Lyttelton, who, with his pads on, bowled lobs from the Vauxhall end and finished Australia's innings by taking the last four wickets for eight runs.
When England batted, W. L. Murdoch, the Australian captain, tried the experiment of putting on G. J. Bonnor, the six-foot-four giant, to open the bowling with the pavilion behind him. How W.G. calmly played forward and turned the good-length ball to the leg boundary was a matter of perfect timing and subtle wrist work.
W.G. made 19 and then was run-out. He played a ball to cover-point and McBlackham, the brilliant wicket-keeper, fourth bearded man in the match, receiving a splendid return; whipped off the bails as Grace slid his bat over the crease.
It was a sad disappointment when the umpire signalled out. The stubborn Scotton and free-hitting Walter Read in a ninth-wicket stand of 151 saved England.
Two years later, he made 170 for England against Australia at The Oval on a drying turf. He was second out at 216; he hit splendidly, his on-drives over the boundary from Spofforth arousing much delight. So by various pictures on to 1895 at Gravesend, where he came to the Press tent during lunch time and wrote a telegram.
That was the match in which W.G. scored 257 out of 443 before being last out on the Saturday. Then, after lunch, Kent were dismissed for 76. Of the 106 runs which gave Gloucestershire victory by nine wickets; W.G. scored 73 while to complete the remarkable three days, during which he was on the field while every ball was bowled, he trotted from the dressing tent in his tweed tail suit and hard felt hat, carrying his heavy cricket bag to a four-wheeled cab which took him to the station.
Nothing legendary - a word misapplied to him by some writers who can't have seen him - about this but honest fact. This was the first instance in first-class cricket in England of a side winning after facing a total of over 400 - Kent began the match with 470. W.G. was then 47.
Next season came another triumph - the last match in which W.G. led England to victory. In this encounter at The Oval in 1896, the dismissal of Australia by Robert Peel and J. T. Hearne for 44 established what is still a Test record for The Oval.
In that innings of 44, nine wickets were down for 25 when M'Kibbin joined Hugh Trumble and hit up 16 before a grand catch at slip by Abel completed the collapse. W.G. scored 33 runs in the match; an aggregate exceeded only by F. S. Jackso;, Robert Abel and Joe Darling, the Australian captain, who equalled Jackson's 47.
So we may look back with thanks to W.G. for one Test match record and remember that when the Australians came in 1878, he decided not to give up all his time to medicine as he had intended but to continue participation in the game taught him by his father, uncle and other relations from the time that he could run with a bat in his hands.
In 1865, he first appeared for Gentlemen against Players at Lord's and in this connection it is good to quote the Hon. Robert H. Lyttelton, whose tribute hangs at Lord's by the side of a small copy of the W. G. Grace picture, which is placed prominently in the National Portrait Gallery: The Champion in flannels, wearing the M.C.C. red and yellow cap, as he always did on the cricket field.
The greatest of the world's cricketers, as a batsman, supreme; as a bowler, great. In his prime, he towered above his contemporaries. From 1850 to 1866, the Professionals won 23 out of 26 matches against the Amateurs. In the next series of 26 matches; the Amateurs won 19, the Professionals 1. This remarkable change was entirely due to the black-bearded hero 'W.G.' A terror to bowlers, he was worshipped by the crowd.
Arranged as customary for the third week in July, the Gentlemen and Players match at Lord's came opportunely for celebrating the Centenary, and M.C.C. appropriately marked the anniversary.
I would've liked to see him play. It's quite clear that he made a difference in the sport. One can't forget someone who has that type of impact. It's a good thing that he's remembered in some form.