William Yardley (cricketer)
William Yardley (10 June 1849 – 28 October 1900) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Kent County Cricket Club from 1868 to 1878 and for Cambridge University from 1869 to 1872. In the early 1870s, only WG Grace was reckoned his superior amongst amateur batsmen. Yardley was also an actor, playwright and drama critic. Yardley was born at Bombay (now Mumbai) in India, the eldest son of Sir William Yardley, Chief Justice of Bombay. He was educated at Rugby School and Trinity College, Cambridge. He was admitted at the Middle Temple in 1868 and called to the Bar on 27 January 1873. He practised on the South-Eastern Circuit. He acted for Canterbury Old Stagers and with Herbert Gardner wrote some of the best plays and epilogues they produced. Cricket career Yardley played cricket for Kent from 1868 to 1878, but his most famous deeds were for Cambridge University, for whom he played from 1869 to 1872. Two of his three hundreds were made in the University Match. His 100 in 1870 was the first in the history of the fixture and his 130 in 1872 was his career highest score. The 1870 fixture was "Cobden's Match", when