Fred Grace

Fred Grace

Personal information
Full name	George Frederick Grace
Born	(1850-12-13)13 December 1850 Downend, near Bristol
Died	22 September 1880(1880-09-22) (aged 29) Basingstoke, Hampshire
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm fast
Role	All-rounder
Relations	Henry Grace (brother) E. M. Grace (brother) W. G. Grace (brother) W. R. Gilbert (cousin)
International information
National side	England
Only Test (cap 23)	6 September 1880 v Australia
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1870–1880	Gloucestershire
1870–1876	United South of England Eleven
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class Matches 1 195 Runs scored 0 6,906 Batting average 0.00 25.02 100s/50s 0/0 8/32 Top score 0 189* Balls bowled – 17,649 Wickets – 329 Bowling average – 20.06 5 wickets in innings – 17 10 wickets in match – 5 Best bowling – 8/43 Catches/stumpings 2/– 170/3
Source: CricketArchive, 1 July 2016

George Frederick Grace (13 December 1850 – 22 September 1880) was an English first-class cricketer active from 1866 to 1880 who played for Gloucestershire and the United South of England Eleven (USEE). He played in one retrospectively recognised Test match for England. He was born in Downend, near Bristol and died in Basingstoke, Hampshire. A right-handed batsman who bowled right arm fast roundarm, he appeared in 195 matches that are generally rated first-class for statistical purposes.^{[fc 1]} In these matches, Grace scored 6,906 runs with a highest score of 189*. An outstanding fielder and occasional wicket-keeper, he held 170 catches and completed three stumpings. He took 329 wickets with a best performance of eight for 43.^[1][2]

Fred Grace was the youngest member of the Grace family. He had four elder brothers who all played cricket: Henry, Alfred, "EM" and "WG". In some contemporary texts, he was called "G. F. Grace", using his initials in the same way as for both EM and WG but in fact he was widely known as Fred while they were always known by their initials only. His two oldest brothers were always known by their first names, Henry and Alfred.^[3][4][5]

Although the England v Australia match at The Oval in September 1880 was granted Test status retrospectively, it is the first instance of three brothers playing together in a Test match with EM, WG and Fred all members of the England team. Grace was always praised for his fielding and, in that Test match, he held what has been called "the most famous deep field catch in history". During the match, he developed a cold which, because he was exposed to wet weather over the next few days, escalated to pneumonia. He died, aged 29, only two weeks after playing for England.

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