Arthur Shrewsbury was born in New Lenton, Nottingham on the 11 April 1856 and from the 1880s played for Nottinghamshire. He lodged with his Uncle at the Queens Hotel in the Meadows. Queens Walk Recreation ground was only 5 minutes down the road from his lodging and it is almost certain that he would have played on it at some point.
It is said he looked out of his bedroom window to see the cricket equipment store he owned. He was the first to score 1,000 runs in Test cricket and played in 23 test matches. When W.D. Grace was asked who he wanted to partner him, he replied, “Give me Arthur”.
He died in May 1903. He was a quiet, humble man whose passing was mourned all over the cricket-playing world – but especially in Nottinghamshire, the county which he served grandly for nearly three decades.
He is now commemorated on the Sport storypole, a wood carving overlooking the recreation ground.