Why W.G. Grace is considered one of the greatest batsmen ever. Excerpt from Indra Vikram Singh’s book ‘Don’s Century’

W.G. Grace (right) with K.S. Ranjitsinhji

Inarguably, the first great batsman was W.G. Grace. He is credited with developing batting technique as we know it today. Another wizard who joined Grace during the later stages of his career, K.S. Ranjitsinhji wrote in The Jubilee Book of Cricket (1897): “He revolutionized batting. He turned it from an accomplishment into a science….. Before W.G. batsmen were of two kinds; a batsman played a forward game or he played a back game….. It was bad cricket to hit a straight ball; as for pulling a long hop, it was regarded as immoral. What W.G. did was to unite in his mighty self all the good points of all the good players and to make utility the criterion of style. He founded the modern theory of batting by making forward and back play of equal importance, relying neither on one nor the other, but both….. I hold him to be, not only the finest player born or unborn, but the maker of modern batting. He turned the old one-stringed instrument into a many chorded lyre.”

The emergence of Grace saw significant developments in the game. In 1864, over-arm bowling was approved. Grace was then able to develop batting technique that countered this revolutionary over-the-shoulder style of delivering the ball. Cricket received the impetus it required. County cricket began the same year, as was Wisden first published.

The popular image of Dr. William Gilbert Grace is that of the Grand Old Man, portly, ageing, with a flowing grey beard. But his best came very early in his career. It is reckoned that he was at eighteen years the best batsman in England, and consequently the world. That was in 1866 when, as Vic Marks wrote in The Wisden Illustrated History of Cricket: “W.G. was creating new standards that no one else could reach.” Playing for an England XI against Surrey, Grace scored 224 not out in a crushing victory of an innings and 300 runs. Marks recounted: “On the last afternoon his captain gave him permission to pop off to Crystal Palace to run in a 440-yard hurdle race - he won. Three weeks later he scored 173 not out for the Gentlemen of the South against Players of the South at The Oval, having already taken seven wickets whilst bowling unchanged throughout the Players’ innings.”

Grace’s halcyon days were in the pre-Test cricket era. Peter Hartland reflected in his book The Balance of Power in Test Cricket 1877-1998: “Picture him in 1873 as a 25-year-old, already known for prodigious feats in track and field athletics. At this stage he scored more runs in his short cricketing career - over 10,000 - than anyone else in history to date, at more than double the average. His career average was now 61, the next best being (reputedly the best professional batsman of the 1860s and 1870s) Richard Daft’s 29. Grace was literally twice as good as anyone who had ever played. With a step-change in broad-batted technique, if not in style, he was the first to show that cricket could be a batsman’s game; that bowlers could be forced on the defensive for long periods. The remarkable thing to remember about Grace is not so much his cricketing longevity, remarkable though that was, but the fact that he established a lead over his contemporaries which has never been equalled.”

It must be remembered that Grace had to play on pitches in the 1860s that were terrible for batting. Hartland continued, “….. pitches, still rough and ready with scant regard for evenness or slope, had barely improved. The only tool in regular use was the scythe, complementing the work of rabbits, sheep and, on one reported occasion at Lord’s a brace of partridges.”

Batting was a hazardous exercise as W.G. Grace’s own observation on wickets bears out: “Many of the principal grounds were so rough as to be positively dangerous to play upon and batsmen were commonly damaged by the fast bowling. When the wickets were in this condition the batsmen had to look out for shooters and leave the bumping balls to look after themselves. In the sixties it was no unusual thing to have three shooters in an over.” And there were only four deliveries in an over in those days!

Later the tracks did improve somewhat, and it is no coincidence that in 1871, around the time the heavy roller came to be used, Grace became the first batsman to score 2000 runs in a season - 2739 runs at an average of 78.25 with 10 hundreds, including two double centuries. That was an age when there was a clear demarcation between the amateurs and the professionals, or the Gentlemen and the Players, as they were called. The Gentlemen were the aristocrats of the game and invariably batsmen, while much of the hard labour, bowling, fell to the lot of the Players. Most of the time it was the Players who triumphed but as Marks recorded “Only during the Grace era did the Gentlemen dominate the fixture. W.G. seemed to save his best performance for the occasion, which serves to emphasise the fact that it was the most important game in the cricket calendar.”

That awesome hitter Gilbert ‘Croucher’ Jessop wrote in the July 1923 edition of The Cricketer International: “In the early days the success of the Gentlemen depended almost entirely on the ‘Old Man’. Fifteen centuries in all did he collect against the ‘Professors’ and on two of the occasions he exceeded the double century. His brightest and best patch occurred before I was born, when in consecutive innings from 1871-73 he took toll of the Players bowling to the extent of 217, 77 and 112, 117, 163, 158 and 70. And in those days, mind you, the wickets, to say the least, were not quite up to the standard of modern days. Yet against ‘rib-roasters’, ‘nose-enders’ - yes, even ‘shooters’ - did the Old Man keep his end up and calmly pursue the path which leads to centuries. Rare indeed was the occasion when ‘W.G.’ gave his wicket away, and yet few balls in the course of a long innings passed his bat.”  

(Author Indra Vikram Singh can be contacted on email singh_iv@hotmail.com.

Follow Indra Vikram Singh on Twitter @IVRajpipla.)

Don’s Century

Published by Sporting Links

ISBN 978-81-901668-5-0, Fully Illustrated

French Fold 21.5 cm x 28 cm, 188 Pages
Price Rupees 995

Indra Vikram Singh’s latest books published by Sporting Links:   

A Maharaja’s Turf  ISBN 978-81-901668-3-6   

The Big Book of World Cup Cricket  ISBN 978-81-901668-4-3   

Don’s Century  ISBN 978-81-901668-5-0   

Crowning Glory  ISBN 978-81-901668-6-7

Distributed in India by:  Variety Book Depot, AVG Bhawan, M-3, Middle Circle, Connaught Circus, New Delhi-110 001, India. Tel. + 91 11 23417175, 23412567.

Don Bradman, the only captain to win a five-Test series after being down 0-2. Excerpt from Indra Vikram Singh’s book ‘Don’s Century’

After a near-death experience at the end of the tour to England in 1934, Don Bradman appeared on the Test arena only in the home Ashes series in 1936-37 as captain.  Australia promptly lost the first two Tests and there were question marks over his own form too. Reproduced below are excerpts from my book ‘Don’s Century’ about this landmark series, which saw a feat that has never been repeated again:  

Bradman was due to appear for South Australia in 1934-35 as he had taken up employment in Adelaide. But this serious illness caused him to miss the entire season which he spent in convalescence. He also opted out of the tour to South Africa in 1935-36. Happily, though, not only did he begin to play for, and captain, South Australia, but was also back to his usual run-making ways. To give but one example of the ‘Bradman effect’, collections from the turnstiles at the Adelaide Oval soared by more than a hundred percent, whereas the receipts at the Sydney Cricket Ground, his erstwhile home venue, plummeted to half.

The Don blazed to 357 against Victoria, and 369 versus Tasmania. In eight first-class matches during the season he notched up 1173 runs at an average of 130.33 with 4 hundreds. South Australia lifted the Sheffield Shield, being unbeaten through the season. There was a huge sigh of relief and a yelp of joy from his legion of fans. The reconditioned run machine, serviced, oiled and tuned, was again cruising effortlessly in overdrive.

This was indeed a new era. Bradman was named captain of Australia for the 1936-37 Ashes series at home. It was a new look side with the stalwarts of the past decade and more, including the two previous skippers Woodfull and Richardson, top-quality strokeplayers Ponsford and Kippax, the great leg-spinner Grimmett (who blamed Bradman for having him dropped) and paceman Wall, gone. That was a combined experience of 160 Tests, no mean figure considering that Test matches were not played so frequently then. Leading England was The Don’s good friend, the genial Gubby Allen, who was also knighted later for his services to cricket.

Bradman became the first captain to win a five-Test series after being down 0-2. It was a titanic struggle, a tribute to his amazing batting skills, concentration and determination, strength of mind and acumen. He led from the front, sweeping aside the English advance like a raging tornado, stamping his suzerainty with knocks of 270, 212 and 169 in the last three victorious Tests. All this, while leading a depleted side with many untested youngsters, himself returning to the Test arena after a near-death experience. What would you call that, if not one of the most inspiring stories of the sporting arena? Bradman was a fighter all the way. As he said in an interview at the end of his career, “I can never remember taking the field in any match without setting out to win.” He had now firmly entrenched himself as The Don of cricket, unquestionably and irrevocably.

To those who hold the view that statistics are misleading, one would only suggest that they take a look at the figures of this series, and Bradman’s batting record in particular. His aggregate of 810 is still the highest by a captain in a Test series. Nobody else on either side got to 500, and that included the likes of McCabe, Hammond and Leyland. After Bradman’s average of 90, these three luminaries registered between 58.50 and 54.55 per innings. That really sums up the mark Bradman left on the series, and the game as a whole. Spin was Australia’s forte, with O’Reilly, as usual, and the chinaman specialist Fleetwood-Smith, picking up 44 wickets between them. England followed the opposite course, Voce and Allen sharing 43 wickets. Yet everything pales in comparison with the great turnaround in the series wrought by Bradman’s magic wand, his run-hungry willow. No wonder Gubby Allen accepted in one of his letters home, “The Australian XI is simply Bradman and no-one else.”

(Author Indra Vikram Singh can be contacted on email singh_iv@hotmail.com.

Follow Indra Vikram Singh on Twitter @IVRajpipla.)

Don’s Century

Published by Sporting Links

ISBN 978-81-901668-5-0, Fully Illustrated

French Fold 21.5 cm x 28 cm, 188 Pages
Price Rupees 995

Indra Vikram Singh’s latest books published by Sporting Links:   

A Maharaja’s Turf  ISBN 978-81-901668-3-6   

The Big Book of World Cup Cricket  ISBN 978-81-901668-4-3   

Don’s Century  ISBN 978-81-901668-5-0   

Crowning Glory  ISBN 978-81-901668-6-7

Distributed in India by:  Variety Book Depot, AVG Bhawan, M-3, Middle Circle, Connaught Circus, New Delhi-110 001, India. Tel. + 91 11 23417175, 23412567.

The revered Don and the endearing Sachin

It is hard to imagine that it will soon be a decade-and-a-half since Sir Donald Bradman passed away. Interestingly, Ricky Ponting has recently stated that Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest batsman after The Don:   

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/top-stories/Sachin-Tendulkar-is-the-greatest-after-Don-Bradman-Ponting/articleshow/51058961.cms

I had written much the same thing in November 2009, four years before Tendulkar retired:

http://indravikramsingh.blogspot.in/2009/11/after-bradman-its-got-to-be-tendulkar.html

Bradman himself had famously said that he thought Tendulkar’s batting resembled his own.

This debate will rage as long as the game is played. New greats will emerge, many more records will be broken, but will there be a more revered cricketer than Bradman, or a more loved one than Tendulkar? Not likely.

The eyes of cricket fans will remain transfixed at two lofty peaks, a Test average of 100, and a hundred centuries in international cricket, until new superstars arrive to scale such dizzy heights again.

(Indra Vikram Singh is author of the book ‘Don’s Century’, ISBN 978-81-901668-5-0, which is a biography of Sir Donald Bradman and a panorama of batting from the 1860s till present times).

Horse Racing: Rajpipla Trophy 2016 at RWITC, Mumbai

Rajpipla Trophy was initiated by my grandfather Maharaja Sir Vijaysinhji of Rajpipla many, many decades ago at the Royal Western India Turf Club, Mumbai (then Bombay). It is an annual race run at the Mahalaxmi. As is well known, Maharaja Vijaysinhji of Rajpipla was one of the most famous racehorse owners in the world right through his reign from 1915 to 1948. 

The Rajpipla Trophy race 2016 over 1600 metres was held on 14th January under beautiful, clear Mumbai skies in the majestic racecourse.

The Times of India preview 14 January 2016

The race card

The Rajpipla royal family present on the day

It was the feature race of the day and won by the favourite Congressional, owned by Mr. Dilip Thomas and Mrs. Bakhtawar B. Chenoy, trained by Bezan Chenoy and ridden by S. Zervan. Remember Me, owned by Mr. R.L. Agarwal, came in second, while Spirit Of Mercy, owned by Mr. Champaklal Zaveri, was third.

The Trophy being presented by the Rajpipla royal family

Trainer Bezan Chenoy being congratulated

Rajpipla royal family on the podium

The Times of India report 15 January 2016

Vadia Palace, Rajpipla - The Taj of Gujarat - in its heyday in the 1940s.....and now. Restoration of this priceless heritage should begin soon

Vadia Palace, also known as Indrajit-Padmini Mahal, was built on a 150-acre estate by the last ruler of Rajpipla, Maharaja Vijaysinhji, between 1934 and 1942. Often referred to as the Taj of Gujarat, it is the final symbol of the 600-year rule of the Gohil Rajput dynasty over this principality lying in the lap of the western Satpuras, and hemmed in by the rivers Narmada and Tapti. 

Despite decades of neglect, the majesty of this iconic monument is still evident. It's potential is enormous in these days of liberalisation and globalisation, of the awareness to preserve heritage, of the keen interest in history, and of the endless possibilities for promoting tourism.

  

One of the last palaces to be built in India, and one of the most expensive at Rupees 4,00,000, a huge sum in the 1930s, it was centrally air-conditioned, a novel concept in those days. Exquisitely designed with great taste in Indo-Saracenic style, the grand palace was built using the finest Italian marble and Burma teak. There are beautiful frescoes on the walls by Polish artist and interior decorator Armande Herman Vallee Wolinski (Armande Vallee). 

  

It is expected that work on the restoration of this great heritage will begin soon, It is planned to put the property to appropriate use by setting up an international class resort therein.

It should, hopefully, not be long before the world begins to marvel once again at this work of art, at the same time enjoying the enchanting natural beauty of Rajpipla. The wheel does come a full circle sometimes.

My forthcoming coffee-table book 'The Ancient Gohil Rajput Dynasty of Rajpipla'

My forthcoming coffee-table book 
'The Ancient Gohil Rajput Dynasty of Rajpipla' 

will commemorate a landmark year for my family.

Homage to Maharana Chhatrasinhji, 
the 35^th Gohil Rajput ruler of Rajpipla

on the centenary of his demise (26^th September 2015)

Celebration of the 125^th birth anniversary (30^th January 2015)

and centenary of coronation (10^th December 2015) 
of Maharaja Vijaysinhji,
 the 36^th and last Gohil Rajput ruler of Rajpipla

This exclusive coffee-table edition, 'The Ancient Gohil Rajput Dynasty of Rajpipla', profusely illustrated with rare photographs from the Rajpipla royal family archives, charts the 1400-year history of the Gohil Rajput clan from 542 A.D. till merger with the Indian Union in 1948, tracing their migration from Saurashtra to Mewar and Marwar, then back to Saurashtra, before carving out a new kingdom in Gohilwar in the south of the Kathiawar peninsula, and finally establishing their rule over Rajpipla around 1340 A.D.

The book then brings forth the trials, tribulations and triumphs of the valiant Gohil dynasty during its 600-year sway over the principality of Rajpipla with its capital in Junaraj (Old Rajpipla) deep in the western Satpuras, and flanked by the rivers Narmada and Tapti, warding off attacks by the sultans of Ahmedabad, braving the invasion of Emperor Akbar’s army, reconquering their territories after the weakening of the Mughal empire and shifting their capital to Nandod or New Rajpipla, only to be confronted by the forays of the Gaekwars before reaching a settlement through the mediation of the British East India Company, and leading to rebellion against the British during the Mutiny of 1857.

The final glorious 90-year period of the dynasty from 1858 witnessed far-reaching reforms and development, which led to the emergence of modern Rajpipla. It was also a glamorous era for princely India before the winds of democracy wafted in.

The specifications of the book are as follows:         

Size:  8.25 inches x 11.75 inches

Paper: 130 gsm imported art paper

Cover: Hard cover with jacket 170 gsm imported art paper laminated

Printing: Colour

Binding: Perfect with section stitching

Advertorials:

A limited number of two-page advertorials are being offered in this exquisitely designed book at Rs. 75,000/- (Rupees seventy-five thousand), with write-ups of up to 750 words (without photographs) on the left-hand page and advertisements on the facing right-hand page. This offers a wonderful opportunity to top brands for associating with historic events

To place advertorials in the book, or for purchase of overseas rights and other details, please send email to singh_iv@hotmail.com.

A time to celebrate. Excerpt from Indra Vikram Singh’s book ‘A Maharaja’s Turf’

Festivities after the victory of Maharaja Sir Vijaysinhji of Rajpipla’s horse Windsor Lad in the Epsom Derby 1934

Many ambitions were fulfilled. It was a night of celebrations. Maharaja Vijaysinhji already had a dinner booking for twelve guests at London’s Savoy that evening. Now there was a Derby triumph to celebrate. The delighted Maharaja simply changed the booking to a hundred.

So it was a big supper party at the Savoy that night. Maharaja Vijaysinhji was always immaculate in the way he entertained his guests, and as The Evening News recounted, “He had gone to no small trouble to find something new for last night. Each woman guest as she arrived was offered an orchid which reproduced the purple in her host’s successful racing colours.”

Daily Mail focussed on another scene: “A young elephant wearing a garland in the purple and cream colours of Windsor Lad’s owner, the Maharaja of Rajpipla, played a prominent part in last night’s Derby Night festivities in London. Shortly after midnight the elephant and her trainer made their appearance on the rising floor of the Savoy restaurant, where the Maharaja was entertaining guests to celebrate his horse’s victory. Proceeding in solemn measure round the floor, the elephant made obeisance opposite the table where the Indian Prince and his guests were sitting, and then marched off, amid cheers.”

Also privy to the celebrations was The Leader. In an article entitled “What Prince ‘Pip’ Said After Derby Victory”, the publication elaborated, “Last Wednesday night I had the honour of attending H.H. The Maharajah of Rajpipla’s Derby dinner. The Savoy can never have accommodated more people, and I have seldom seen more celebrities gathered under one roof. Opposite me was His Highness, or ‘Pip’ as he is known to his best friends, and on either side of him were his trainer, Marcus Marsh, and his jockey, Charlie Smirke. A little further away was Steve (Donoghue) in just as good form as if he had won the Derby himself, George Duller and his wife, Mrs. Smirke, Mrs. Marsh (Marcus’s proud mother), and a host of others. It was a memorable evening, and from time to time His Highness remarked: ‘Is it really true or shall I wake up to find I’ve been dreaming?’ Never has the Derby been won by an owner who more appreciated the honour of winning the greatest race in the world. As he said to me before he left Epsom, ‘I have realised my life’s ambition’.”

Nottingham Guardian also had its say in its issue dated 7th June 1934

Derby prophesy of 1868 fulfilled

Crowd cheer “Good old Pip” after Windsor Lad’s win

Bookmakers hard hit

The Maharajah of Rajpipla, who gave a party at a London hotel last night, said to a reporter: “I am proud to have won the Derby with Windsor Lad, but I am prouder still that I should have won this great race before such a sporting public. Windsor Lad is a great horse and I hope he will add still further to the stable’s triumph this summer, for he will run in the Eclipse Stakes and the St. Leger, all being well. Don’t forget that he had a great little jockey riding him in Charlie Smirke,” Smirke and his wife were guests at the Maharajah’s table at the party.

A film of the race was already at hand at the Savoy, as The Leader recounted: “You all know the story of the race, of how Colombo was baulked, of how he failed to come down the hill, and, finally, most important of all - of how he failed to stay. At the Savoy I watched the film with Charlie Smirke, and how the film confirmed what Charlie had told me, that Colombo actually headed him, and led the field for a few strides about a furlong-and-a-half from home. His stamina then gave out, and Windsor Lad, a dead stayer, ran him out of it, and withstood the challenge of Easton.” 

“Directly he had passed the post we made a mad rush from the stand to the unsaddling enclosure,” The Leader went on, recalling the post-race scene, “I find myself jammed on the staircase against Marcus Marsh, and we shout, ‘Make way for the trainer,’ and somehow we find ourselves by the unsaddling ring. In a minute or two a burst of cheering announces the arrival of the winner, being led by his owner bare-headed, with a look of joy on his face I have seldom seen on any man. ‘Smirkey’ too is, of course, all smiles, and there is the usual amount of congratulatory pats on the back, until Brig.-Gen. Tomkinson comes along and takes the Maharajah away to be presented to the King. ‘His Majesty was charming,’ the Maharajah told me, ‘and insisted on having a glass of champagne together. He told me how pleased he was my horse had been trained by Marsh, the son of his own old trainer, who had trained Derby winners for his father’.”

About the victorious jockey Charlie Smirke, The Leader had nothing but admiration: “What a wonderful day in the life of this young man, even more wonderful when one realises that for five long years Charlie was prevented from earning his living. No man ever paid more dearly for the follies of his youth, and it was not until last autumn that he was allowed back on the Turf he loves so well. It speaks volumes for his pluck, ability, and general self-confidence that he should win the Derby, in his first year back in the saddle. My remarks that not even Steve Donoghue himself had a finer knowledge of the Epsom gradients than Smirke appear to be bang on the mark, for never have I seen a better ridden Derby winner than Windsor Lad.”

Colombo’s failure was as much a talking point and The Leader appeared to assess the situation perfectly, “After the race a number of people, talking through their pockets, blamed Johnstone, but save for the fact that he went a little wide rounding Tattenham Corner I thought he rode a perfect race. Colombo did not have the luck of the race, but the primary cause of his failure was that he failed to stay as well as either Windsor Lad or Easton. Hard-luck stories can always be anticipated after a hard-fought contest over this most tricky and trying mile and a half, and certainly, had Colombo met with the same good fortune in running as the winner, he would have given the ‘Lad’ a hard race.”

Commending the winning horse’s performance, The Leader said, “Windsor Lad handsomely justified the strong recommendations given him as the soundest each-way bet in the race. No colt could have run in gamer fashion to stall off the desperate efforts of Easton and the favourite, Colombo, and it was just that extra bit of sticking power that stood him in good stead when the others were waning. To see a horse punch it out in that fashion and refuse to be beaten is a never failing test of condition, and, whilst Smirke can well be congratulated upon riding an admirable race, it should not be overlooked that the colt’s trainer, Marcus Marsh, was responsible for sending the winner to the post fit to run for his life.”

It had been a memorable day, and night, for the jubilant Windsor team.

It was estimated that more than 10,000 people of a score of nationalities celebrated Derby night in the West End hotels of London.

The King gave his usual Derby Day dinner at Buckingham Palace to members of the Jockey Club. About fifty guests, all men, attended. The Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, the Duke of Gloucester, Prince George, and the Earl of Harewood were among the members of the royal family present. Lord Lonsdale, the steward of the Derby, was present and felt no ill-effects from the mishap which occurred when he was on his way to the race.

The Queen - who in former years had dined at a friend’s house on Derby night - drove to the Queen’s Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue to see “Old Folks at Home” accompanied by her brother, the Earl of Athlone and Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone.

(Author Indra Vikram Singh - grandson of Maharaja Vijaysinhji of Rajpipla - can be contacted on email teddy.rajpipla@gmail.com and singh_iv@hotmail.com. His other blog is singhiv.wordpress.com).

A Maharaja’s Turf  

Published by Sporting Links

ISBN 978-81-901668-3-6

Distributed in India by :  

Variety Book Depot, 

AVG Bhawan, M-3, Middle Circle, Connaught Circus,

New Delhi - 110 001.  Tel. +91 11 23417175, 23412567.