James Disney

James Disney (November 20, 1859 — June 24, 1934) was an English cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper who played for Derbyshire. Disney was born in Butterley and died in Ripley.

Disney's first-class career started during the 1881 season, in which he played four matches, his debut coming in a victory against Sussex. He scored well in the match, though he did not bat in the second innings. However, he lost form during the second half of the season and made several low scores, failing to captitalize when being pushed further up the order due to the presence of tailender William Mycroft.

When he returned the following season, he continued to find himself getting out cheaply, though he remained a first-choice selection within the team on account of a lack of fellow good-quality tailend batsmen. Derbyshire played host to the touring Australians during the 1882 season, a tour culminating in a Test match against England, though Disney, who was keeping wicket for the team, lost focus and found himself out to the batting of Eugene Palmer on two occasions. Spofforth finished the game with ten wickets and went on to take fourteen in the Test match, including those of Monkey Hornby and the only representative from the very first Test present in the England side during the match, George Ulyett. This would signal the start of something of a polarized yoyoing period for the team, as the following three innings were won by an innings, lost by an innings, and lost in the final innings respectively.

Disney returned as a lower-order batsman in 1883, relinquishing his position in the tailend to rookie James Brelsford, and, now in the latter part of his career, George Hay. Disney took a year out of the side, not making a single first-class appearance during 1884, and returning for 1885, when he was once again a first-team pick. Derbyshire continued to yo-yo this season, claiming, in those matches with Disney in the side, back-to-back innings-margin defeats and victories in County matches, while the man himself remained a force as a wicket-keeper.

Disney played first-class cricket for Derbyshire for just two more years, before playing his last game for the side during the 1887 season. Almost exactly a year later he played his next match for an England XI against a team of Australians building up to the third match of a Test series during 1888.

Disney played in two matches in the Minor Counties Championship for Cheshire during the 1895 season, eight years after the close of his county cricketing career. Along with his status as a professional cricketer, Disney worked full-time as a plumber.

External links

* [http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/29/29080/29080.html James Disney] at Cricket Archive