Editing W. G. Grace (section)

===Gloucestershire===
It is generally understood that [[Gloucestershire County Cricket Club]] was formally constituted in 1870, having developed from Dr Henry Grace's West Gloucestershire club.{{sfn|Birley|1999|p=104}} Gloucestershire acquired first-class status when its team played against Surrey at Durdham Down on 2, 3 and 4 June 1870.{{sfn|Grace|1891|p=15}} With Grace and his brothers EM and Fred playing, Gloucestershire won by 51 runs.{{sfn|Rae|1998|pp=89–90}} The club soon had one of the best teams in England and was unanimously rated [[Champion County]] in 1876 and 1877, as well as sharing the unofficial title in 1873 and staking a claim for it in 1874.{{sfn|Webber|1958|pp=14–20}} Surrey and Gloucestershire played a return match at The Oval in July 1870, and Gloucestershire won it by an innings and 129 runs. Grace scored 143, sharing a second wicket partnership of 234 with [[Frank Townsend (cricketer, born 1847)|Frank Townsend]], who scored 89.{{sfn|Rae|1998|p=94}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/1/1655.html |title=Surrey v Gloucestershire, 1870 |work=CricketArchive |url-access=subscription |access-date=31 December 2024}}</ref> The Grace family "ran the show" at Gloucestershire and EM was chosen as secretary which, as [[Derek Birley]] pointed out, "put him in charge of expenses, a source of scandal that was to surface before the end of the decade".{{sfn|Birley|1999|p=105}} WG, though aged only 21, was from the start the team captain and Birley put that down to his "commercial drawing power".{{sfn|Birley|1999|p=105}}

Grace, a medical student at the time, was first on the scene in June 1870, when [[George Summers (cricketer)|George Summers]] received the blow on the head that caused his death four days later. This was in the MCC v [[Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club|Nottinghamshire]] match at Lord's. Grace was fielding nearby when Summers was struck, and took his pulse. Summers recovered consciousness and Grace advised him to leave the field. Summers did not go to hospital, but it transpired later that his skull had been fractured.{{sfn|Rae|1998|pp=91–92}} The Lord's pitch had a poor reputation for being rough, uneven, and unpredictable all through the 19th century and many players including Grace considered it dangerous.{{sfn|Birley|1999|p=114}}

It was in 1870 that, as Birley put it, Grace "scorned the puny modern fashion of moustaches" and grew the enormous black beard that made him so recognisable.{{sfn|Birley|1999|p=105}} In addition, his "ample girth" had developed for he weighed 15&nbsp;stone (95&nbsp;kg) in his early twenties.{{sfn|Midwinter|1981|p=31}} Grace was a non-smoker but he enjoyed good food and wine; many years later, when discussing the overheads incurred during [[Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield|Lord Sheffield]]'s profitless tour of Australia in 1891–92, [[Arthur Shrewsbury]] commented: "I told you what wine would be drunk by the amateurs; Grace himself would drink enough to swim a ship".{{sfn|Birley|1999|p=148}}