In 1873 W.G. Grace became the first cricketer to score 1,000 first-class runs and take 100 first-class wickets in the same English season. He repeated the feat seven more times before 1886. The 'Grace double' set the bar for the all-rounder's season for the next century.
Grace had emerged as a great batsman in 1869-71. His bowling — initially a useful occasional change — developed into a regular weapon in 1872. By 1873 he was Gloucestershire's leading bowler.
The 1873 season opened with Grace already on form. He passed 1,000 runs by mid-July and 100 wickets in early September.
Grace was 25 and at his peak as an all-round cricketer in 1873. The previous year he had passed 1,000 runs but stopped short of 100 wickets; in 1873 he passed both, finishing the season with 2,139 runs at 71.30 and 106 wickets at around 12 apiece in first-class matches. He bowled medium-paced round-arm — straight, full, with cleverly mixed pace — and was capable of long unchanged spells in an era when batting friendly tracks were rare. The 'double' became the gold standard for all-rounders for the next century. Grace himself achieved it eight times between 1873 and 1886 — a record that has never been approached. Wilfred Rhodes managed it 16 times in a longer career, but no other cricketer has matched the eight Grace doubles within fourteen seasons.
1,000 runs reached mid-July 1873
100 wickets reached early September 1873
Final tally: 2,139 runs and 106 wickets
First cricketer in history to complete the double
May 1873
Season opens; Grace immediately in form
Mid-Jul 1873
1,000 first-class runs
Early Sep 1873
100 first-class wickets
End of 1873
2,139 runs, 106 wickets — first double
“He bowled all day, batted all day, and never tired.”
Grace did the double again in 1874, 1875, 1876, 1877, 1878, 1885 and 1886 — eight seasons in fourteen. He also captained Gloucestershire to three unofficial county championships in the same period.
The first-ever 1,000-run / 100-wicket season. Grace did it eight times. The 'double' became the test of a great all-rounder.
The 'season's double' became the defining all-rounder benchmark of English cricket. It survived as a meaningful test until the County Championship was reduced in fixtures after 1969. Grace's eight doubles is a record that no one has approached except Wilfred Rhodes (sixteen, in a much longer career).
Yorkshire v Essex
1932-06-16
On 15-16 June 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe (313) and Percy Holmes (224*) put on 555 for the first wicket against Essex at Leyton, breaking the world first-class record for any wicket and adding a layer of folklore — including a scoreboard that read 554 for several minutes and a hastily reversed declaration — that has clung to the partnership ever since.
Australia v England
1933-02-14
With the fate of the Bodyline series in the balance and England 216 for 6 chasing 340, Eddie Paynter checked himself out of a Brisbane hospital where he was being treated for acute tonsillitis, taxied to the Gabba in pyjamas and a dressing gown, and batted for nearly four hours to score 83. England drew level on first innings, won the Test by six wickets and the series 4-1.
Australia
1934-09-25
Days after the 1934 Oval Test, Bradman fell seriously ill with appendicitis that progressed to peritonitis. With antibiotics not yet available, he was given little chance of survival; his wife Jessie left Adelaide on a sea voyage to England prepared for the worst. He recovered after weeks of intensive nursing in a London nursing home and returned to first-class cricket the following Australian summer.