W.G. Grace

T20 batting will move on from him, but for now, as he stands on the verge of yet another monolithic landmark, he is a reminder of what is possible in the game

Bad boy WG Grace is easy to love but good boy WG Grace (and the accompanying legend) is hard to bear

The legend of great sportsmen like WG Grace, Babe Ruth and Sachin Tendulkar is partly to do with the eras they lived in

The 16-year-old WG Grace made an impact in his very first match 150 years ago

Either way, WG Grace generated more than his share of column centimetres, in his lifetime and beyond

It has taken the country ages to get over its obsession with defensive batting and appreciate that the ball is there to be smashed

The good doctor writes a tell-all book

After the emotion of Sachin Tendulkar's last Test, a look at some farewells that didn't go quite so well

Famous incidents when batsmen were hit by bouncers

And so, for no reason, cricket's greatest beard XI

In 1903, the English county season got off to a start with a match between London County and Surrey. But the match, which featured WG Grace and Bangalore Jayaram, was played amid sleet and snow showers

In the space of eight days in 1876, WG Grace scored 839 runs, including two triple hundreds. He shaped the game we know today, inventing technique and influencing bowling

An early-season game at The Oval in freezing cold over a century ago marked the exit of one of cricket's great legends

The first Test to be played in England was a hastily put-together affair that took place against the odds

The hastily-arranged match between the Australians and an England XI captained by Lord Harris, now deemed to be the first Test staged in England, was won by the home side but produced a thrilling contest which ebbed and flowed to the end

The sheer longevity of WG Grace's career was remarkable, and some of the records he set might never be equalled

In the late 1800s, one man was synonymous with cricket, and enchanted all who came to see him bat. Truly was he nearly as big as the game

If not for the good doctor, cricket might have remained a pastime rather than a great international sport

It had rained, the conditions were not suitable, but these spectators wanted their monies' worth and just wouldn't go home