Though he kept a perfect length and could flight the ball extremely well, at this early stage Tyldesley had so little spin that he was not a deadly force on sticky wickets.

He also scored 105 against Nottinghamshire at Old Trafford and remarkably was Lancashire's fourth-highest run-scorer - though with less than half the aggregates of Ernest Tyldesley, Hallows and Makepeace.

[2] It was from 1923, however, that he leaped to the top of the tree though increasing his finger spin to make him a deadly bowler on the many sticky pitches found in the North.

His record that summer won him a place on the Ashes tour of 1924/1925, but he was a dreadful failure on the cast-iron Australian wickets where the ball came straight through.

However, at home Tyldesley maintained his form as a bowler exceptionally well, and after a slight lapse in 1927 and 1928 he was back at his best in 1929, heading the bowling averages and invariably proving unplayable after showers in a very dry summer.