major edward stanley (29 june 1852 – 7 april 1896) was an english military officer who played one first-class cricket match for somerset county cricket club as an emergency stand-in in 1884. somerset had arrived in manchester a player short for their fixture against lancashire, and had to seek special permission to include stanley in their team. stanley lived in manchester, but had been born in somerset, and thus qualified for the county. his only first-class appearance was not successful; he did not bowl, and scored no runs in either innings of the match.