WG Grace inducted into ICC Cricket Hall of Fame

Dubai:

WG Grace, father of modern cricket, has been inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. The legendary British cricketer became the 44th inductee on Saturday before the start of the fourth ODI between England and Australia at Lord's.

A commemorative cap was presented to Grace's great, great grandson, Dominic and his son George, by the ICC President David Morgan, ECB Chairman Giles Clarke and MCC Chief Executive Keith Bradshaw.

Grace played 22 Test matches for England between 1880 and 1899, scoring 1,098 runs and amassed 54,211 first-class runs, including 124 centuries and 251 half-centuries spread over 44 seasons.

He also took 2,809 wickets at an average of 18.14, including five wickets in an innings 240 times and 10 wickets in a match 64 times.

Grace, along with fellow Hall of Famer Frank Woolley, has scored 1,000 runs in a season the most times 28.

Born in 1848, he made his Test debut aged 32 against Australia on 6 September 1880 at the Oval and proceeded to score a century on debut, finishing the match with 152.

Grace played his final Test in July, 1899 against Australia, aged 50 years and 320 days, making him the third oldest player to feature in a Test match, after fellow Hall of Famer Wilfred Rhodes and Australia's Herbert Ironmonger.

"The beginning of Grace's career coincided with the birth of modern cricket (1864 also saw the legalisation of over-arm bowling and the first edition of Wisden s Cricketers Almanack) and Grace is widely credited with introducing modern batting technique, combining a mixture of forward and back play with a sound defense," an ICC release said. He was Wisden Cricketer of Year in 1986.

"I think that, WG, my great, great grandfather, would have found it unbelievable that, 94 years after he died, people are still talking about him," Dominic Grace said upon receiving the commemorative cap.