William Ward Selby, like de Crespigny, made his sole appearance for Notts v Sussex at Trent Bridge in 1848. Baptised at Leenside, Nottingham, in April 1823, he was the son of John Selby who was a notable local Nottingham cricketer in the 1820s and 1830s. His own son, also called John, had the dubious distinction of being the first England player to be dismissed in a Test match during a career with Notts and England.
William Selby played his early cricket for the Radcliffe Club, but was a professional in Cardiff in 1855 to 1857 and at Trinity College, Glenalmond in 1861. In addition to his one First-Class game, he played eight times against the All England Eleven, for teams as disparate as Essex and South Wales, his only notable match being for Gainsborough in May 1851 when he took five AEE wickets for 37. Selby also played twice against the rival United England Eleven, making 22 for, appropriately, the XXII of Llanelli in August 1856. His highest score therefore came in that one first team game when his 28 was the highest score in Notts' only innings.
William Selby worked as a postman in Nottingham, though the 1891 census shows him to be a hosiery framework knitter. He died in Nottingham on 29 January 1892 and is buried in the General Cemetery.
August 2020
Nottinghamshire First-Class Number: 73