[6] In November 1908 he and another Australian, Francis Ayles, were appointed as coaches by the Otago Cricket Association in New Zealand.
He played in the side's only Plunket Shield match of the season, bowling "exceedingly well"[8] and taking five wickets in the match,[4] including dismissing Auckland's opening batsman first ball with "a very fast delivery ... which caught the top of the middle stump".
[10] He played against Wanganui―the Otago Cricket Association again praising his consistency bowling in its end of season report―[b][8] and Southland and in first-class matches against Hawke's Bay and Canterbury.
[17] Wordsworth played in Otago's first first-class match of the season, a December fixture against Canterbury, without taking a wicket.
By 1921 he was serving as a net bowler for the Australian I Zingari club at Rushcutters Bay near Sydney, although by this time he was reported as bowling slower than he had due to a knee injury.