He would play for a number of teams between 1872 and 1885, including Hampshire, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and Middlesex.
The son of The Reverend Nicholas James Ridley, he was born in September 1852 at Hollington, Hampshire.
[6] He guided Oxford to victory in the 1875 University Match, when with Cambridge requiring 14 runs for victory with three wickets in hand, Ridley bought himself on to bowl his underarm lobs, taking the final three Cambridge wickets for the cost of 7 runs.
[4] The 1876 season was to be the most successful of his career, with his eleven first-class matches yielding him 585 runs at an average of 36.56, with three centuries.
[10] In the period between 1878 and 1882 he played mostly for the Gentlemen and the MCC, amongst other ad-hoc first-class teams like I Zingari and his own personal eleven.
[6] Described by The Times as a "first-rate batsman" and by W. G. Grace as a good driver of the ball who made use of his 6 feet 0 inches (1.83 m) height to obtain great reach,[14] he scored 3,150 runs at an average of 20.19, making four centuries.
[15] He was further noted by Wisden as being a "superb field" in whatever place he chose to fill",[13] with Ridley often being utilised at point.
[4] Ridley's business commitments limited his availability to play first-class cricket on a more regular basis.
[4] Their eldest daughter Vera Emily, married Bertram Francis Gurdon, 2nd Baron Cranworth in 1903, while his second daughter, Marcia Emma, in married Philip John Sherwin Pearson Gregory in 1911; Gregory would also play cricket at first-class level.
His paternal great-grandfather was the landowner and politician Sir Matthew White Ridley, 2nd Baronet.