The Centenary Celebrations for W G Grace died age 67, 23rd October 1915
On Friday, 23rd October 2015 there will be two W.G. Centenary Events
At 4.30 pm Derek Carpenter will be conducting a Remembrance Service at W.G.’s grave in Beckenham Cemetery.
Celebrations will resume at 7.30 pm in St George’s Church, Beckenham when the guests will include notable cricketing names and the BBC Sports personality, Beckenham’s Rob Bonnet .
For Warlockians the highlight of the evening will be a repeat performance of Peter Warlock’s Cricketers of Hambledon.
The cricketing career of Dr William Gilbert Grace, W.G. as he was known, spanned 48 years from 1861 to 1908. During his 43 years as a first-class player he scored 54,896 runs, including 126 centuries, and took 2,876 wickets. He made his Test debut at the age of 32 in 1880.
Aged 52 in 1900, when his international career was over, he formed the London County Cricket Club based at Crystal Palace Park, Beckenham. He played first-class county matches with them until 1908. During these years he often appeared during the annual cricket weeks at Beckenham Cricket Club when he drew huge crowds to Foxgrove Road.
WG continued to play minor cricket after his retirement from the first-class version. His final match was for Eltham Cricket Club at Grove Park on 25 July 1914, a week after his 66th birthday. He died in Eltham on 23rd October, 1915 and is buried in the Beckenham Cemetery in Elmers End.
“He swung his bat and turned his arm on the green and pleasant fields of Beckenham in his last years; his memory remains with us forever.”