of advice or an adviser, until he became a king of legend." The method of play Sewell was referring to is back-play, which allowed Shrewsbury to master the bad wickets which were often found on county grounds. Most batsmen of 1870s and 1880s typically played off the front foot. His Wisden obituary contains similar sentiments: "As a batsman he had a style of back play peculiarly his own, and his judgment of the length of bowling was almost unequalled. It was said of him that he seemed to see the ball closed up to the bat than any other player." Shrewsbury was not a strong or muscular man and stated that he did not hit the ball, but steered it in the desired direction. Shrewsbury's technique was criticised by Rait Kerr in his book 'The laws of cricket'. He wrote: "As we have seen the improvement in pitches enabled Arthur Shrewsbury to develop a new gospel of defensive batsmanship which soon made many converts. From about 1885 this technique involved an increasing use of the pads." At the time the lbw law stated that for the batsman to be out, the ball had to pitch between wicket and wicket. In 1888 the MCC considered a change to the law but instead issued a statement saying that defending the wicket with the body was against the spirit of the game. Shaw and Shrewsbury During the 1879 tour of North America Shrewsbury along with Alfred Shaw finalised plans to start a business. 'The Midland Cricket, Lawn Tennis, Football and General Athletic Sports Depot' in Carrington Street, Nottingham. Following the profitable tour of 1881/2 they opened a factory under the name 'Gresham Works' situated in Waterway Street and in the spring of 1884 the name of the firm was changed from 'The Midland Cricket, Lawn Tennis, Football and General Athletic Sports Depot' to 'Shaw and Shrewsbury'. Their trademark of a kangaroo and emu with a cricket bat between them was introduced in 1886. Following the financial losses made during the tour of Australia in 1887/8 the firm downsized from the two buildings into a single building in Queen's Bridge Road. After Shrewsbury's death his share in the firm was split between his brother, William, and four of his nephews. The firm was closed in 1939 with its assets being bought by Grays of Cambridge. See also History of Test cricket from 1877 to