James Cranston was an amateur cricketer who was educated at Taunton College in Somerset and went on to play 103 first-class cricket matches for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club between 1876 and 1899 as a left-handed middle-order batsman. He also played for Warwickshire County Cricket Club in 1886 and 1887, which was before Warwickshire gained first-class status. He also played one Test match for England against Australia in 1890.