W.G. Grace's 1,000th test run cricket bat from the match between England and Australia at Lords in June 1896, A full size Cobbett cricket bat, fully c

W.G. Grace's 1,000th test run cricket bat from the match between England and Australia at Lords in June 1896, A full size Cobbett cricket bat, fully corded grip and double cording to the body of the bat, inscribed to the front face 'England v Australia June 1896' and autographed by the following England greats beneath: Lyttleton, W.G. Grace, Hayward, Stoddart, Lilley, Barlow, Hearne, E.M. Grace, Capt. A.W. Webbe and others, additionally signed by the Australian 'Demon' bowler, Fred Spofforth, and to the bottom of the front face by future Prime Minister Lloyd George, the reverse of the bat stamped 44035; housed in a modern custom made display case; sold together with a framed reproduction photograph of the England test cricket team of 1896 Test Match cricket began in 1877 when Grace was already 28 and he made his debut in 1880, scoring England's first-ever Test century against Australia. He was an automatic selection for England at home, but his professional duties as a doctor meant that he only travelled on one Test-playing tour of Australia, that of 1891-92. His Test career, therefore, is not prolific. He played for England 22 times through the 1880s and 1890s, all of them against Australia as they were the only other Test playing nation at this time. In total he scored 1,098 Test runs at an average of 32.29. He made two centuries and highest scored with 170. His 1,000th run was scored with this very bat in the Lord's Test Match in June 1896. Grace scored 66 in the first innings and 7 in the second innings, with England winning the match by 6 wickets. It also proved to be Grace's final Test Match at Lord's. The Lords Test of 1896 was also the scene for one of the most famous deliveries in Test Cricket, as recounted in Sir Pelham Warner's The History of Lords 1787-1945. He recounts that in the first delivery of England's first innings, the Australian fast bowler Ernest Jones dug one in short which rose so close to Grace's face that it actually passed right through his famous long beard, at which point the Australian keeper J J Kelly lost sight of the ball which went through to the sight screens for four byes. Grace was also named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1896, having in this summer played 54 innings, scoring 2,135 runs with an average of 424, and having taken 52 wickets with the ball. Provenance: A gift from W.G. Grace after the Lords Test to the Australian Syd Gregory, who gave it to his fellow tourist and brother-in-law Harry Donnan, on their return to Australia. Both were in the field when Grace scored his 1.000th Test run and Gregory, with Trott, set a new record partnership for any wicket of 221 in the second innings. From the evidence of the cording, Grace had probably used this bat for some time, culminating in the 1,000th run Test, Donnan was Don Bradman's batting mentor at St. George District Cricket Club, and through his association there passed this bat on to Club President Les Blackshaw, thence to his Estate. The bat was then first sold at LawsonMenzies, Sydney 'Australian and Sporting History' on April 4th 2005 as Lot 529, where it had been researched and catalogued by their consultant Tom Thompson, cricket publisher including to the late Sir Donald Bradman. The bat was then resold to the present vendor and returned to England after an absence of 113 years.