Best Batsman in England
Shrewsbury scored a century against Sussex in his first match back but this was his highest score of the 1889 season, he finished with 522 runs at 37.28. Shrewsbury was chosen as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1890, an award only introduced the previous year.
In 1890 he matched his highest score with an innings of 267 against Sussex, he shared in a 398 run partnership with Billy Gunn which remains the second wicket record for Nottinghamshire and was a first-class record for any wicket for nine years. Australia toured during the season but Shrewsbury struggled during the Tests making scores of 4, 13, 4 and 9 as England defended The Ashes in a low scoring series – there were no team innings of more than 176. Domestically Shrewsbury topped the batting averages.
Shrewsbury started the 1891 season with a run of low scores, failing to reach double figures in eight consecutive innings in the County Championship (he did carry his bat for 81 in a Players v Gentleman fixture during this run) however the second half of the season saw a dramatic improvement which resulted in him topping the batting averages. He was offered a place on the tour party to Australia but decided to stay at home to look after the business as his business partner Alfred Shaw was travelling as manager of the team.
In 1892 Shrewsbury scored his tenth and final double century during a match against Middlesex he scored four more centuries in the rest of the season including carrying his bat for 151 for the Players against the Gentlemen. This resulted in Shrewsbury topping the averages for a third successive season. Australia tour of England 1893 included three Test matches. In the First Test at Lord's Shrewsbury played a similar innings to seven years previous, this time the bowler was Charles Turner. On a difficult first day wicket he scored 106. Wisden wrote:
Shrewsbury's batting was marked by extreme patience, unfailing judgment, and a mastery over the difficulties of the ground, of which probably no other batsman would have been capable.
During the innings Shrewsbury became the first cricketer to score 1,000 Test runs. He added a second innings 81 but rain prevented a result. He had scores of 66, 12 and 19 not out in the rest of the series as England retained the Ashes. Shrewsbury was the leading run scorer in the series with 284 at 71.00.
Read more about this topic: Arthur Shrewsbury
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