In his younger days he boxed, played rugby and tennis, rode motorcycles, but leg injuries stopped his sporting activities.
After the war the line-up of the British teams generally included Boris Schapiro, Terence Reese, Kenneth Konstam, Leslie Dodds, and Edward Rayne, initially with Gray as captain.
He used his bridge columns to champion the losing trick method of evaluating hands for suit contracts.
Thus, he did not play in the 1951 European championship, but he gave a lengthy account of it in a press report, which attacked the performance of the British team (who came third to Italy and Austria).
An editorial in the English Bridge Union's official medium gave an unforgettable response: This was a strange performance from Gray, especially given his motto for playing at the table, which was "Keep icy calm".
The response from the British Bridge League, responsible for team selection at European and World events, was: "The British Bridge League have decided that Mr Harrison-Gray will not be considered for selection in the team to represent Great Britain in the European Championship in 1952.
These failings perhaps accounted for his long and sterile feud with the BBL.In 1951 Boris Schapiro wrote an article giving his opinion of the top players of the day.