An expert on sticky wickets,[1] Shrewsbury topped the first-class batting averages seven times including in 1902, his final season.

[4] On 12 May 1873, having just turned 17, Shrewsbury made his first appearance at Lord's for the Colts of England against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).

[9] The following year Shrewsbury made his maiden first-class century, scoring 118 against Yorkshire, at Trent Bridge sharing in an opening partnership of 183 with Richard Daft.

He toured North America in September 1879 with Richard Daft's XI, where the side won all six matches, all of them against odds (opposition teams of more than eleven players).

[8] The break allowed him, Shaw and James Lillywhite to organise a lucrative eight-month tour of Australia, New Zealand and America the following winter.

[1] He and Shaw wrote to the Nottinghamshire committee to apologise for their previous season's actions, and both were welcomed back into the side.

Shrewsbury warmed up for the First Test with 209 against Sussex at Hove,[18] sharing in a stand of 266 with Billy Gunn, a first-class record for the fifth wicket.

[20] Shrewsbury finished the season just short of 1,000 runs[8] as Nottinghamshire were declared Champion County, having won nine out of their ten matches.

Australian critic Felix described the innings: His play throughout was a treat to look at, and that neat and effective stroke of his between square-leg and mid-on is worth copying.

[22]Shrewsbury finished the Test series with 301 runs at 50.16[23] and made £150 from the tour, the figure reduced by the boycotting of several matches by the 1884 Australians.

In two low scoring Tests (no team innings totalled as many as 200) Shrewsbury contributed 46 runs as the tourists won the series 2–0.

His best innings of the tour came for the Non-Smokers against the Smokers in Melbourne, where he scored 236 in a total of 803, then a first-class record,[26] as was the third wicket partnership of 311 between Shrewsbury and Billy Gunn.

The one-sided matches and the bad weather led to poor crowds, and the tour's organisers failed to make a profit.

To try to recoup some of his losses Shrewsbury stayed in Australia after the cricket tour, and managed an English rugby football team.

[32] It was also of note because on the tour a number of people involved on the British side commented that they liked the Australian game more than Rugby.

In the First Test at Lord's Shrewsbury played a similar innings to seven years previously, the great bowler this time was Charles Turner.

Wisden reported: Shrewsbury's batting was marked by extreme patience, unfailing judgment, and a mastery over the difficulties of the ground, of which probably no other batsman would have been capable.

In 1901 Nottinghamshire were dismissed for 13 against Yorkshire, the second lowest total ever made in county cricket, Shrewsbury split his hand while fielding and missed the rout.

[47] His performances during the season earned him further praise in the 1903 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack: His batting was marked by all its old qualities, and except that he is, perhaps, less at home on a really sticky wicket than he used to be, there is little or no change to be noticed in his play.

[48]The Nottinghamshire Committee raised donations of £177 14s (worth about £24,400 at current prices) for Shrewsbury in recognition of his batting performance.

[48] Shrewsbury complained of kidney pains during a match for Lenton United on 27 September, and during the winter he consulted various doctors and specialists who could discover nothing seriously wrong with him.

[48] His girlfriend, Gertrude Scott, found him bleeding from a head wound and by the time a doctor arrived Shrewsbury was dead.

At the inquest, held the following day, the coroner decided that Shrewsbury had committed suicide, his mind having been unhinged by the belief that he had an incurable disease.

"[54] 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

[57] Following the profitable tour of 1881/2 they opened a factory under the name 'Gresham Works' situated in Waterway Street[58] 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'.