18 July: WG Grace

W.G. (William Gilbert) Grace, England's greatest cricketer, known as “the father of Cricket”, was born on this date in 1848. 10 facts about him:

1. He was born in Downend, near Bristol. He had eight siblings and was the second youngest. His father was a GP who was also a cricket fan who encouraged his children to play, and they were coached by their uncle, Alfred Pocock.

2. WG wasn’t academic, and didn’t do especially well at school, but was sought after by both Oxford and Cambridge universities because of his prowess at cricket. However, Grace spurned both and enrolled in Bristol Medical School at 20, as his father wanted him to have a career in medicine. He didn’t qualify until he was 31, taking his final exam at Westminster Hospital.

3. W.G. played his first cricket match on 19 July 1857 for West Gloucestershire against Bedminster at Mangotsfield at the age of eight. His first innings score was three, not out.

4. Cricket wasn’t his only sport. As well as being a good all rounder in cricket, he was a champion 440-yard hurdler, played Football for the Wanderers, cleared nine feet in the pole vault twice, and silver medal in the quarter-mile event at the 1869 AAC Championships. In later life he took up golf, lawn bowls and curling and was the first captain of the England bowls team.

5. In 1873 he married Agnes Nicholls Day, his cousin’s daughter. Their honeymoon was spent on a ship bound for a cricket tour in Australia.

6. He was six feet two inches tall and sported a flowing Beard. His beard impressed the Monty Python team enough for them to use his face as the face of God in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

7. Because he had a day job as a doctor, he was classified as an amateur cricketer, but was so well known that he made more money from the game than professionals did. The price of a ticket to a match doubled if he was playing. There is evidence that, as a doctor, he didn’t bill his poorer patients.

8. He was also renowned for having a bit of a bad attitude on the pitch, throwing tantrums and questioning the umpire’s decisions. Cricket’s John McEnroe, perhaps. Cricket fans in Australia didn’t like him much because of that.

9. He was the first major sports star to endorse a condiment – Colman's Mustard.

10. His final match was on 8 August 1914, when he was 66 years old. He played for Eltham against Northbrook, and didn’t bowl or bat in that game. He died from a heart attack at the age of 67.

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