[1] Watson learned his cricket in his native Scotland for the Drumpelier and Edinburgh Clubs as a fast bowler, but attracted no attention until he moved to Rusholme in 1869[2] where he was discovered by Lancashire as a slow bowler in the contemporary round-arm style; however, Watson had an unusually deceptive flight for his time and could vary his stock off-break with a ball that turned the other way to great effect.

Moreover, Watson was an exceptionally accurate bowler and his short stature and consequent low trajectory meant he was impossible for contemporary batsmen to jump out to and hit.

In 1877, owing to the absence of Alfred Shaw and the decline of fifty-year-old Southerton, Watson was for the first time called upon for representative cricket, playing for "England" against the Marylebone Cricket Club and taking on a sticky wicket his best-ever match return of fourteen wickets for forty-nine runs;[5] however, "England" were dismissed by Fred Morley and William Mycroft for 26 and lost the match.

[6] The widespread belief that Watson's delivery was unfair, and that he used his jerky action to flight the ball into strong breezes[2] further prejudiced his chances of becoming a representative cricketer with stiff competition from Shaw and Peate, but from 1879 until 1887 Watson was a vital cog in a Lancashire team that in 1881 so dominated its opponents that they averaged less than eleven runs per wicket whilst the Lancastrians scored over 23 and were unofficially recognised as "Champion County" for the first time.

[4] After two moderate years, Watson at forty-one returned to the top of the national average in 1886 with an amazing start that yielded 28 wickets for 143 runs in his first three games, whilst in the extremely dry season of 1887 he bowled with superb accuracy to be difficult even on pitches more favourable to batting than ever known in England before.