W. G. Grace with the English cricket team in Australia in 1873–74

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]

Part of a series of articles on
W. G. Grace
Seasons
1864 to 1870 1871 1872 to 1873 1873–74 1874 to 1875 1876 to 1877 1878 1879 to 1882 1883 to 1886 1887 to 1891 1891–92 1892 to 1894 1895 1896 to 1899 1900 to 1908
Career
First-class centuries Variations in statistics
Family
E. M. Grace (brother) Fred Grace (brother) Henry Grace (brother) Charles Grace (son) Henry Grace (son) W. G. Grace junior (son)