Editing W. G. Grace (section)

==="The Old Man"===
[[File:Gents-v-Players-1899.jpg|thumb|Gentlemen, captained by W. G. Grace, ''versus'' Players, Lords 1899]]
After leaving Gloucestershire, the Graces lived in [[Mottingham]], a south-east London suburb, not far from [[Crystal Palace Park]] where he played for London County, or from Eltham, where he played [[club cricket]] in his sixties. A [[blue plaque]] marks their residence, Fairmount, in Mottingham Lane.{{sfn|Midwinter|1981|p=146}} Grace and his wife suffered two tragic losses in this period. First, the loss of their daughter Bessie in 1899, aged only 20, from [[typhoid]]. She had been Grace's favourite child.{{sfn|Midwinter|1981|p=127}} Then, in February 1905, their eldest son WG junior died of [[appendicitis]] at the age of 30.{{sfn|Midwinter|1981|p=140}}

London County played first-class matches from 1900 to 1904.{{sfn|Gibson|1989|p=57}} Grace's presence initially attracted other leading players into the team, including C. B. Fry, [[K. S. Ranjitsinhji]], and [[Johnny Douglas]], but the increased importance of the County Championship, combined with Grace's inevitable decline in form and the lack of a competitive element in London's matches, led to reduced attendances and consequently the club lost money.{{sfn|Midwinter|1981|pp=144–146}} Nevertheless, Grace remained an attraction and could still produce good performances. As late as 1902, though aged 54 by the end of the season, he scored 1,187 runs in first-class cricket, with two centuries, at an average of 37.09.{{sfn|Rae|1998|p=495}} London's final first-class matches were played in 1904 and the enterprise folded in 1908.{{sfn|Midwinter|1981|p=146}}

With the demise of London County as a first-class team, the number of Grace's appearances dwindled over the next four seasons until he called it a day in 1908. His final appearance for the Gentlemen versus the Players was in July 1906 at The Oval, the match coinciding with his 58th birthday. When he began his second innings, the Gentlemen were expecting defeat but Grace saved the match, which ended in a draw, by scoring a dogged 74 runs. He was given a standing ovation as he left the field.{{sfn|Rae|1998|pp=469–470}} That was his last "big match", but he continued to make occasional first-class appearances until 20–22 April 1908 when he captained the Gentlemen of England against Surrey at The Oval, where, opening the innings, he scored 15 and 25.{{sfn|Rae|1998|p=472}}