He made his cricketing debut for Derbyshire in the 1873 season against Lancashire when he achieved his best bowling performance of 2 wickets for 10 runs.
In the 1874 season he only played non-first-class matches for Derbyshire against Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire and United South of England.
In the 1878 season he played all twelve first-class matches for the club and one other and made his top score of 69 against Lancashire.
Rigley was a right-handed batsman who played 108 innings in 58 first-class matches for Derbyshire with a top score of 69 and an average of 12.24.
For Derbyshire he took 3 wickets with an average of 10.00 and a best performance of 2–10 In 1881, Rigley was living with his family at Somercotes where he was an engine-smith.