Frederick Ridgway

Frederick "Fred" Ridgway (10 August 1923 – 26 September 2015) was an English cricketer, who played in five Tests for England on the 1951–52 tour of India, where he and Brian Statham shared the opening pace bowling duties.

Ridgway was born in , Cheshire, England on 10 August 1923. As a county cricketer, Ridgway, although not appearing a likely successful pace bowler because of his slight build, was the mainstay of Kent's opening attack for a decade after World War II, except on the rare occasions that Jack Martin could get away from business. Ridgway did not play regularly in 1946, but the following year he jumped into prominence with 12 for 86 on a rain-affected pitch against Yorkshire.

Though in 1948 he was badly affected by injury, 1949 proved to be Ridgway's best year, for he took 105 wickets for 22.88 runs each, which ranked him as the fourth-best pace bowler in the country after Bedser, Gladwin and Les Jackson. Ridgway's most notable performance was on the featherbed Trent Bridge wicket, where he took six for 79 in the first innings, and paved the way for an easy Kent victory. Apart from teammate Doug Wright in the second innings, no visiting bowler at Trent Bridge bettered those figures all year, but Ridgway's most notable feat that year was his striking consistency: with only one haul of eight or more in a match he still took 90 wickets in 20 county games. Moreover, playing against Sussex, Ridgway "shared in a record partnership of 161 for the ninth wicket" with Brian Edrich. This partnership, just under half the total of 379, was made in a losing cause.