E. M. Grace

For the Australian politician, see Ted Grace.

E. M. Grace

E. M. Grace

Personal information

Full name

Edward Mills Grace

Born

28 November 1841
Downend, South Gloucestershire, England

Died

20 May 1911 (aged 69)
Thornbury, South Gloucestershire, England

Nickname

The Coroner

Batting style

Right-handed

Bowling style

Right arm slow (underarm)

Role

All-rounder

Relations

W. G. Grace, G. F. Grace (brothers), Walter Gilbert (cousin)

International information

National side

England

Only Test (cap 22)

6 September 1880 v Australia

Domestic team information

Years

Team

1870–1896

Gloucestershire

Career statistics

Competition	Test	First-class
Matches	1	314
Runs scored	36	10,025
Batting average	18.00	18.66
100s/50s	0/0	5/44
Top score	36	192 not out
Balls bowled	0	13,441
Wickets	–	305
Bowling average	–	20.37
5 wickets in innings	–	17
10 wickets in match	–	2
Best bowling	–	10/69
Catches/stumpings	1/–	369/1

Source: Cricinfo, 1 October 2009

Edward Mills ("E. M.") Grace (28 November 1841 – 20 May 1911) was an English cricketer in the second half of the 19th century who was an all-rounder, batting right-handed and bowling slow right arm underarm. He played first-class cricket for Gloucestershire CCC and was the elder brother of W. G. and Fred Grace. All three played in a Test match for England in 1880 a week 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

Born 28 November 1841 in Bristol, England, E. M. Grace 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.^[1]

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. ^[2] However, although the match is recognised as first-class, this is not an official record as it was a 12-man 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 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.

Gloucestershire CCC in 1880 shortly before Fred Grace's untimely death. W. G. Grace is seated front left centre. Fred Grace (hooped cap) is third left in rear group. Billy Midwinter (directly behind WG) is fourth left in rear. E. M. Grace (bearded) is sixth left in rear.

All three brothers were selected for the first Test match played in England, which was at the Oval in 1880. This remains the only instance of three brothers playing for England in the same Test. ^[2] 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.^[3]

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 two sons Edward and Francis. His daughter Mina Gertrude Grace married stockbroker Henry Willis, son of the cricketer Henry Willis.^[4]^[5] He died 20 May 1911 in Gloucestershire, England.

References

↑ Rae, p.199.
1 2 Owen 1912.
↑ The Memorial Biography of Dr. W. G. Grace, Constable, 1919, pp26-7.
↑ Gloucester Journal, 29 Dec. 1906
↑ http://www.epsomandewellhistoryexplorer.org.uk/1900Bios.html#WILLIS

Bibliography

Owen, W. B. (1912). "Grace, Edward Mills". In Lee, Sidney. Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Rae, Simon (1998). W. G. Grace: A Life. ISBN 978-0-571-17855-1.

External links

Preceded by Tom Emmett	Oldest living Test cricketer 30 June 1904 – 20 May 1911	Succeeded by James Lillywhite

Australian first-class cricket season leading wicket-takers (1850–51 to 1899–1900)

1850–51: Antill 1851–52: Henty 1852–53: – 1853–54: McDowall 1854–55: – 1855–56: Elliott/McKone 1856–57: Wills 1857–58: Wills 1858–59: Wills 1859–60: Richardson/Wills 1860–61: Cosstick 1861–62: Bennett 1862–63: Lawrence 1863–64: Grace 1864–65: – 1865–66: Conway/Cosstick 1866–67: Gregory 1867–68: Wills 1868–69: Cosstick 1869–70: Cosstick 1870–71: Reid 1871–72: Allan 1872–73: Cosstick 1873–74: – 1874–75: Coates 1875–76: Evans 1876–77: Shaw 1877–78: Evans 1878–79: Emmett 1879–80: Cooper 1880–81: Evans 1881–82: Palmer 1882–83: Palmer 1883–84: Palmer 1884–85: Peel 1885–86: Spofforth 1886–87: Turner 1887–88: Turner 1888–89: Ferris 1889–90: Trumble 1890–91: Phillips 1891–92: Giffen 1892–93: Giffen 1893–94: Turner 1894–95: Giffen 1895–96: McKibbin 1896–97: McKibbin 1897–98: Jones 1898–99: Jones 1899–1900: Noble

Leading run-scorers: 1850–51 to 1899–00 1900–01 to 1949–50 1950–51 to 1999–00 2000–01 onwards Leading wicket-takers: 1850–51 to 1899–00 1900–01 to 1949–50 1950–51 to 1999–00 2000–01 onwards

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