Arthur Shrewsbury - First-class Beginnings

First-class Beginnings

Shrewsbury missed the majority of the 1874 season with rheumatic fever but made his first-class debut in May 1875 for Nottinghamshire against Derbyshire, he ended the season with 313 runs at 17.38 and failed to score a fifty but in a season of wet weather he came out fourth in the county's batting averages.

The following year Shrewsbury made his maiden first-class century, scoring 118 against Yorkshire, at Trent Bridge sharing in a 183 opening partnership with Richard Daft. Shrewsbury finished the season with an innings of 65 not out against Surrey in a low scoring match. In May 1877, he made 119 at The Oval for the Players of the North against Gentlemen of the South. He also scored four fifties and finished the season with 778 runs at 19.94.

In 1878 Australia made their first tour to England and their first match was against Nottinghamshire, Shrewsbury scored 8 in an innings victory for the home team. He scored 724 runs at 21.29 during the season but failed to score a century. The following season was less successful with his average dropping to 15.78 and his failure to be selected for either of the Gentlemen v Players fixtures. He toured North America in September 1879 with Richard Daft's XI, the side won all six matches, each of them against odds (teams of more than eleven players). During the 1880 season he scored 403 runs but once again failed to reach three figures, his highest score was 66 not out which came against the touring Australians.

In 1881 Shrewsbury led the strike of Nottinghamshire professional players alongside Alfred Shaw following disagreements with the county secretary, Captain Henry Holden, over an early season fixture with Yorkshire arranged by Shaw and Shrewsbury. The strike meant Shrewsbury played just three first-class matches during the season. However the break allowed him, Shaw and James Lillywhite to organise a lucrative eight-month tour of Australia, New Zealand and America the following winter.