The extent of Dr Grace's shamateurism knew no bounds. I wonder how many people are aware of his terms for the 1891-92 Ashes tour? The tour was sponsored by Lord Sheffield, one of the world's richest men, who was determined to bring Grace over to ensure the box office success of his team.
Lord Sheffield wrote to Arthur Shrewsbury, inviting him to join the team and seeking his advice on the outlook of the tour. Shrewsbury believed that as Grace had not been to Australia for 18 years a new generation of cricketers would be eager to see him, so his presence alone would likely improve the takings of the tour by between £1500 and £2000.
Lord Sheffield immediately wrote to Grace, who, after a meeting at Sheffield Park in March 1891, agreed to make his second tour of Australia for a fee of £3000, plus all expenses for himself, his wife and two children, and the cost of employing a locum to run his medical practice while he was away. The total cost to Lord Sheffield for Grace alone was around £5000.
By means of comparison, the leading professionals on the tour, such as George Lohmann and Bobby Abel, all accepted £300. Even this was pretty good going when one considers that in 1901 only 400,000 in an English population of 33 million declared an annual income of over £400.