William Ashby

William Ashby (12 January 1786 – 10 April 1847) was an English cricketer who played mainly for Kent. He was one of the best slow bowlers of his time, and a pioneer of roundarm bowling. Ashby already had a reputation as a fine cricketer and is first known to have played for the county team in 1807 alongside Willes, developing a reputation as the best slow bowler in Kent. Scores and Biographies described Ashby's bowling action as "not very high in delivery" and with what it described as an "unusual bias", although William Denison writing in 1846 in his Sketches of the Players, records that his bowling action later saw his arm raised above his elbow.

Later in 1807 Ashby made his debut, playing for England (i.e., the "rest" of England). He went on to make 45 appearances, most of them for Kent or England. He also appeared for Hampshire, Sussex, Surrey, and Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). He played nine times for the Players against the Gentlemen. He also played in one of the roundarm trial matches of 1827 and was one of the signatories of the petition against the way that the Sussex bowlers in the matches had bowled.

Ashby played his last important match in 1830, but continued to play club cricket. He was employed as a professional at the Clarence Cricket Club in Camberwell in 1836 and played there for 10 years.

Ashby married Sarah Whatson in 1819 and had two children, a son and a daughter. He died of bronchitis at Lambeth in 1847 aged 61.