W. G. Grace visited Australia in 1873–74 as captain of "W.G. Grace's XI".[1] On the morning of the team's departure from Southampton, he responded to well-wishers by saying that his team "had a duty to perform to maintain the honour of English cricket, and to uphold the high character of English cricketers".[2] But both his and the team's performance fell well short of this goal. The tour was not a success and the only positive outcome was the fact of the tour having taken place, ten years after the previous one, as it "gave Australian cricket a much needed fillip".[3] Most of the problems lay with Grace himself and his "overbearing personality" which quickly exhausted all personal goodwill towards him.[4] There was also bad feeling within the team itself because Grace, who normally got on well with professional players, enforced the class divide throughout the tour.[5] In terms of results, the team fared reasonably well following a poor start in which they were beaten by both Victoria and New South Wales. They played 15 matches in all but none are recognised as first-class.[1]
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Bibliography edit
- Altham, H.S. (1962). A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914). George Allen & Unwin.
- Birley, Derek (1999). A Social History of English Cricket. Aurum. ISBN 1-85410-941-3.
- Bowen, Rowland (1970). Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. Eyre & Spottiswoode.
- Darwin, Bernard (1934). W. G. Grace (Great Lives Series). Duckworth.
- Grace, W.G. (1899). "W.G." – Cricketing Reminiscences and Personal Recollections. Hambledon Press. ISBN 0-9506882-0-7.
- Midwinter, Eric (1981). W.G. Grace: His Life and Times. George Allen and Unwin. ISBN 978-0-04-796054-3.
- Rae, Simon (1998). W.G. Grace: A Life. ISBN 978-0-571-17855-1.