The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-11-28
w. c. GRACE CALLED BEST
OF ALL Uni
Great English Player, Who
Died Recently, Stands Out
Above All Others.

w. @. Grace was SO much an Institution
that IL seemed as II he always had been
and always would be. and the news Of
his death on Saturday In his sixty
eighth year was a sad reminder that all
men are mortal. Always since he was
a young man who had only just come
OF age, he has held the reputation of
being the greatest cricketer of all time.
although occasionally a new star has
arisen who shone SO brightly that the
doctor seemed In some slight danger Of
being eclipsed. w. l.. Murdoch. one
Of the Doctors greatest friends. and in
his heyday only second to w. c.. ex-
planned this state Of AFFAIRS to mo very
we'll indeed about a dozen years ago
He said: The striking feature OF the
game In my early days WAS the position
held by w. G.. he stood on a pinnacle
by himself. and nobody came near him.
But In the last six or seven years we
have had a lot of splendid batsmen all
on n "a with one another. For a short
period one of them nay force himself a
little above the others. but In the long
run nobody singles himself out as the
successor Of the old man. who can still
himself hold his own among the Others
No ono Is likely to dispute hat the
three men who seemed to possess the
best chance Of oustlng the doctor from
his pride OF place were X. S. Ranjit-
slnhti. G. b. Fry and Victor Trumper.
But Trumper's very great promise
proved illusory, and. when at the height
Of their fame Fry and Rantitsinhji were
no longer able to play regularly In first
class cricket w. @. was left In solitary
state unassailed n unassailable
ut IL "A commonplace, but the abso-
lutte truth. to say tina, cricketers Of a
later generation who Judged W q. from
what they saw In his veteran stage can
have no idea at all OF what he was like
In the days when he was a young man,
endowed with immense strength and
powers Of lasting. lie was a great
cr!cketer in 1895 when he made his
thousand runs in May he was a great
cricketer even In later years. when TO
see a professional helping him off with
his sweater to enable him TO bowl was
a source Of pure joy but he was not the
cricketer OF the '10S. He may best
be compared with Sims Reeves. Those
who heard the great singer In his later
years heard a fne voice which was still
better than that of most ereat singers.
but they did not now the wonderful
charm Of the man when he was at his
best. Those OF us who can remember
W. q. in his very prime can also re-
member that when he was playing We
visited n cricket ground with the same
mingled fears and hopes that We ex-
pcrienced when we went TO hear Sims
Reeves. At the concert room we were
often met with the announcement 'The
management greatly regrets that owing
to n severe cold Mr.. Sims Reeves will
be unable TO sing: on the cricket ground
We too often found that the great crick-
eter was Just out or would not go in
during that day. But when after a
series OF disappolntments we heard the
one man and saw the other we had an
experience which We never forgot.
II remember with the utmost clearness
the first time I saw W G. play a long
lnninss-indeed ] think Il was the first
time I saw him make more than "A few.
Glourestershire were playing Sussex at
the new ground at Hove and ". q.
made s.vonty-sever. u was n wonder
ful innings. containing troke which 10
other man ever made. and big hits such
as not even Bonnor or Lyons or George
Brann could afterward excel. My I'M
preston Is that he d'd not at that time
place his left foo, with the toes raised
far above the ground 7 think 7 should
havo noticed Il n he had done SO. for a
boy does not miss much. Young as !
was | was greatly impressed by ". G's
remarkable skill In placing the bail.
Yet | recognized thoroughly that IN the
matter of a graceful style Harry Charl-
wood could have easily given him points.
for then, An to the end of his career.
W. q. was n master OF power rather
than OF style. There was something
impressive. something magisterial. in his
pose at the wicket and when he was
playing the ball, and the only other
batsman who eve reminded me of W. q.
in his early days was G. r. Fry when
he was thoroughly set and making runs
a,tf,lyf,r % tt,utnl a 80 .,,ypna
glorious batsmen to watch. but In quite
another way.
Like Alfred Shaw, W a. was fortu-
nate In being able TO prove to a later
generation, At a time when he seemed on
the point of becoming effete, that his
reputation as a alnous cricketer had not
been overrated. Shaw returned to first
class cricket years after he had been left
ont OF the Motifs eleven AS being no
longer OF use, and, old as he was and
unable to run. proceeded to make all
batsmen look like scholboys. The doc
tor. after some OF the p~lainest and most
uncompromising hints In the early spring
of 1925 that he was tagging superfuous
on the stage. played his remarkable in
n!ng~ Of .SS ugaius Somerset at Bristol
and 257 against Kent at Gravesend. In
the latter match he was in the field the
whole OF the time available for play. for
he was last out in his first innings,
tielded through the two innings of Kent,
and then going in first when Gloucester
SHIRE had to make runs against time, car
ried out his bat when victory was won.
Between May . and May 30 in that year
he scored l,0l6 runs in nine completed
innings.
MANY old ~cricketers, Bob Thoms
among them. were convinced that II W.
q. had been nothing of a batsman he
would nave been tho greatest hnNIlap ~