Barry Richards vs Greenidge

[Coronis]

I think in one year he made more first class hundreds than everyone else in Britain combined.

This is true. I know there’s a detailed post on here regarding his dominance by season but he was truly extraordinary.

 

[capt_Luffy]

That’s what I am asking.

Is there a list of first class statistics back then?

I am curious to know how far ahead he was of his peers

I've been having a look at Grace's First Class career with this method.

If you treated the England First Class season (inclusive of all Tests, county games, etc) in the same way I've treated a Test calender year here, Grace's standardised batting average in the 862 matches he played in the English summer would be 72.03. Using the same "value" formula I used here which gave the Don a 12.47 rating, Grace gets a rating of 12.97 for his First Class batting in England.

If that doesn't seem impressive enough, his standardised average dropped off significantly towards the end of his career as he played on well into his late 50s. After 17 years of cricket and 293 matches his standardised average was still sitting pretty at over 102. In his prime - after 10 years of cricket and 143 matches - his standardised average stood at a ridiculous 123.71.

And that's before we even start looking at his bowling - no small matter of 2800 First Class wickets.

 

[DrWolverine]

I would love to read more about him. Any videos or books I can get about him?

 

[sayon basak]

I would love to read more about him. Any videos or books I can get about him?

This one is not bad.

 

[Johan]

I wasn't talking about Grace or the best players of the next generation like Trumper. I'm talking about Grace's peers in the 1870s, where he was consistently averaging 50+ and scoring 8 to 10 centuries a year, whilst the next best batsman averaged mid 20s and made only one.

K.S. Ranjitsinhji on W.G. Grace in The Jubile Book of Cricket:

"He revolutionised cricket, turning it from an accomplishment into a science; he united in his masterly self all the good points of all the good players and made utility the criterion of style... He turned the old one-stringed instrument into a many chorded lyre, a wand. But in addition he made his execution equal his invention. Possibly Grace's most far reaching achievement was to master both forward and back play and draw on both with equal dexterity. Until his time, a man was either a back player like Carpenter or a forward player like Pilch, a hitter like E.H. Budd or a sticker like Harry Jupp. But W.G. Grace was each and all at once."

If we look at the batsmen who had scored over 5,000 runs in first class cricket at an average of over 20 up to the end of the 1873 season, we do indeed see a crazy discrepancy of much greater than Bradmanesque proportions:

W.G. Grace 10,669 runs @ 61.51 with 38 centuries.
Harry Jupp 9,987 runs @ 24.53 with 8 centuries
William Beldham 7,043 runs @ 21.47 with 3 centuries
George Parr 6,626 runs @ 20.20 with 1 century
Richard Daft 6,427 runs @ 29.48 with 6 centuries
Lord Frederick Beauclerk 5,442 runs @ 24.96 with 5 centuries
Bob Carpenter 5,184 runs @ 24.80 with 4 centuries

 

[sayon basak]

Here's the 400* he scored against 22 fielders.

The Home of CricketArchive

 

[Coronis]

Probably Grace’s most impressive achievement was his 1895 season. Turning 47 during the middle of the season.

He became the first player to score 1000 runs before the end of May, in fact in only May alone. Grace led the averages and aggregates by over 300 runs that year. Only 7 other players have scored 1000 runs prior to the end of May.

29 matches 48 innings 2346 @ 51.00 9 tons 5 fifties

Not too shabby for a 46-47 year old.

 

[DrWolverine]

Probably Grace’s most impressive achievement was his 1895 season. Turning 47 during the middle of the season.

He became the first player to score 1000 runs before the end of May, in fact in only May alone. Grace led the averages and aggregates by over 300 runs that year. Only 7 other players have scored 1000 runs prior to the end of May.

29 matches 48 innings 2346 @ 51.00 9 tons 5 fifties

Not too shabby for a 46-47 year old.

Either he is one of greatest batsman of all time or he was playing a bunch of nobodies to do so wellat that age.

 

[sayon basak]

Either he is one of greatest batsman of all time or he was playing a bunch of nobodies to do so wellat that age.

You don't have to be so vague. It's pretty clear that you consider him a fraud.

 

[Coronis]

Either he is one of greatest batsman of all time or he was playing a bunch of nobodies to do so wellat that age.

Considering the top bowlers that year were taking wickets at around 15… you do the maths.

 

[Johan]

remember, mid 50s Barnes was outbowling prime late 20s Larwood.

 

[capt_Luffy]

Anderson was playing Tests as an outright pacer 42. These modern batsmen seem like hacks.