Buckston was born in Hope, Derbyshire and was educated at Eton and at Trinity College, Cambridge.
He played as an opening batsman seeing off competition for the position from Leonard Oliver who was deputising for the captain John Chapman for much of the season.
"Having achieved his mission", wrote Will Taylor, the Derbyshire secretary, "Buckston refused to be dissuaded from his decision to retire".
[2] Buckston was a right-handed batsman and played 75 innings in 39 first-class matches at an average of 11.83 and a top score of 96.
Buckston's brother-in-law, Herbert Allsopp, played first-class cricket for Cambridge University during 1876.