The poem, penned on day two of the 1997 Leeds Test, follows.

 

"WG","THE DEMON" AND "THE ASHES"
Dedicated to W.G. Grace (1848-1915) and F.R. Spofforth (1853-1926)

 

Aged five, behind the Full Moon Hotel at Stokes Croft, Bristol,
WG's first sight of the ball was on a ridge and furrow field
Where some All England players wore top hats,
And his love of the game was born.

 

Beard blowing like a banner,
Shirt sleeves rolled or loose,
Gloucestershire or England cap perched on head,
Scoring on pitches unimaginably rough.

 

The Australian team regarded him with awe
And the respect due to a British dreadnought,
Queen Victoria inquired of his health,
Well was he called Champion.

 

Then, in 1882
Came fourteen of the best,
To the Oval, to challenge England,
In the one and only Test.

 

At the end of the first innings England led by 38.
The Demon 7 for 46, with Australia fighting back.
In comes Jones, the youngest,
Strikes, runs and grounds his bat.

 

Then young Jones moves forward,
Farming furrows in the pitch,
WG breaks the wicket,
Sam Jones is given out.

 

With 84 to get, England 4 for 65,
The "odds" where then appalling,
Grandfather Ladbury, yet to follow,
Would bet the fortune on the rest.

 

Inspired, the Demon charged,
And of him it was once said,
Pour six-inch square of water on a plum pitch
And the ball will hit the spot.

 

No water in the bucket and no rain in the skies,
The Demon bowled undaunted,
11 overs, 10 maidens, 4 for 2,
7 for 44 and Australia by 7 runs.

 

To WG he was the greatest that ever played,
Cruiserweight, six foot three,
With a fast yorker as first ball
And his famous feat inspired

 

Oh WG and the Demon Spofforth, what did you do to us!

References were memory and two other sources as follows :
1)The Book of Cricket, Denzil Batchelor, Collins, 1952 (4 pounds 1 shilling when I found it dust covered in a Shepparton shop and convinced my father to buy it for me as my interest in cricket emerged).
2)Home and Away, Jack Pollard, ABC Books, 1995.