| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1786-01-12)12 January 1786 Linton, Kent, England |
| Died | 10 April 1847(1847-04-10) (aged 61) Lambeth,Surrey, England |
| Batting | Right-handed |
| Bowling | Right-arm slow[1] |
| Role | Bowler |
| Domestic team information | |
| Years | Team |
| 1807–1829 | Kent |
William Ashby (12 January 1786 – 10 April 1847) was an Englishcricketer who played mainly forKent.[2][3] He was one of the best slow bowlers of his time, and a pioneer ofroundarm bowling.[1]
Ashby was born in 1786 atLinton, Kent, the son of Thomas and Frances Ashby. He was a carpenter by trade who worked on theSutton Valence estate ofJohn Willes, a Kent landowner and cricketer and an influential proponent of the roundarm method of bowling in the early 19th century.[a] Ashby already had a reputation as a fine cricketer and is first known to have played for the county team in 1807 alongside Willes, developing a reputation as the best slow bowler in Kent.[1][5][6]Scores and Biographies described Ashby's bowling action as "not very high in delivery" and with what it described as an "unusual bias",[7] althoughWilliam Denison writing in 1846 in hisSketches of the Players, records that his bowling action later saw his arm raised above his elbow.[8]
Later in 1807 Ashby made his debut, playing for England (i.e., the "rest" of England). He went on to make 45 appearances, most of them for Kent or England. He also appeared forHampshire,Sussex,Surrey, andMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC). He played nine times for thePlayers against the Gentlemen.[1][3] He played in the 1822 Kent match against MCC atLord's whenLord Frederick Beauclerk, a leading MCC member, contrived to have Willesno-balled for throwing in an attempt to have roundarm bowling outlawed.[b] Willes famously left the match although Ashby, whose bowling action was probably lower than Willes', continued to play.[1][9][10] He also played in one of theroundarm trial matches of 1827 and was one of the signatories of the petition against the way that the Sussex bowlers in the matches had bowled.[11][12]
Ashby played his last important match in 1830, but continued to play club cricket. He was employed as a professional at the Clarence Cricket Club inCamberwell in 1836 and played there for 10 years.[1]
Ashby married Sarah Whatson in 1819 and had two children, a son and a daughter. He died ofbronchitis atLambeth in 1847 aged 61.[1][2]