This arrangement had a controversial end, when he clashed with the South Australian Cricket Association over money and moved to New Zealand to play for Otago.

[9] The report in Wisden described him as possibly the best amateur bowler in England that year:[9] he bowled medium-paced off spin, although he varied the speed of his delivery from slow to fast.

[33] After a month of cricket in between the Tests, during which Crawford scored 212 in a minor game,[14] the English team were suffering from fatigue when the remaining matches were played.

[37] Writing home during the tour, the MCC captain Pelham Warner frequently praised Crawford and the extent of his ability at a young age.

[41] Returning to England for the 1906 season, Crawford completed the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in first-class cricket, the youngest player at the time to accomplish this feat.

Towards the end of the season, he scored 103 runs in 90 minutes against Kent, his only century that year, hitting several deliveries into the crowd; The Times described the ball in this innings as "soaring away like a bird".

[14] The series was settled in the fourth Test; Australia recorded a big victory after rain affected the pitch and created difficult batting conditions during England's first innings.

[54] However, his heavy workload with the ball affected his health; he lost a stone in weight during the tour, and before the final Test a Melbourne doctor diagnosed that he had "strained the right side of his heart" and advised that he see a specialist.

[57] As the tour neared its completion, the Australian press reported that Crawford planned to remain in Australia, that he had attracted the attention of several "society" women, and that he had become engaged.

H. D. G. Leveson Gower had been appointed captain for 1908 but the combination of an injury and his marriage left him unavailable for four matches near the beginning of the season.

[63] Contemporary reports suggested that his performances tailed off as the season progressed, possibly through tiredness from having played too much cricket, and that he became a less accurate bowler through trying too hard to spin the ball.

[66] His financial problems were compounded by his inability to find a suitable job, and the Surrey committee threatened that he "ought not to be played on the same terms" unless he "[commenced] to earn his livelihood".

When the team arrived in Chesterfield to play Derbyshire, eight of the professionals were arrested following an incident in the street; the matter was cleared up and the press suggested that the police had been over-eager.

[74] The county subsequently defeated Derbyshire by an innings in early July; Rushby and his fellow professionals Walter Lees and W. C. Smith were very successful with the ball.

[68][75] Crawford was asked to lead the team for that game,[69] but with Rushby and Lees omitted,[72] another bowler missing and himself unable to bowl owing to a shoulder injury, he considered the attack too weak.

[75] Crawford replied that he had been unaware of the reason for the suspensions of Rushby and Lees—which Alverstone and the committee disputed—and would have supported Leveson Gower, but suggested it was unfair to ask him to captain a weak bowling team and then demand he apologise for preferring not to.

[78] By the beginning of August 1909, two weeks after the match against the Australians, the Surrey committee severed their connection with Crawford; Leveson Gower felt that he had shown the "deepest ingratitude".

"[69] Informed of his expulsion by letter, Crawford replied to the committee a final time: "I fail to see why I should practically be branded as a criminal because, as acting captain, I declined the responsibility of skippering a team which did not include three essential players, an independence which I trust will remain in spite of the awful example made of me to every amateur in the United Kingdom.

[5] Burns believes that Crawford was feeling pressure from several directions: his inability to secure a job, possible frustration at the controlling influence of his father, a desire to be independent, his poor run of form and criticism of his captaincy.

[14] He had previously discussed emigrating to Australia with the Australian Test player Victor Trumper, who had asked Clem Hill to investigate a potential teaching post at St Peter's College, Adelaide.

[88] At St Peter's School, Crawford combined his teaching role with supervision of sports, including acting as coach for the cricket team.

[94] His success against the touring South Africans, perhaps helped by his experience facing their googly bowlers on previous occasions, brought him close to selection for the Australian Test team that year.

[96] He may have considered leaving South Australia, but the Cricket Association appointed him as a clerk at the Adelaide Oval, a position which earned £200 per annum, with additional responsibility for coaching and youth scouting.

[105] In December 1913, Crawford wrote to the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) asking for a six-month leave of absence and a guaranteed renewal of his contract.

The SACA described his letter as "arrogant" before eventually granting his request and offering him a three-year contract worth around £300 per year, including coaching fees.

[108] In March 1914, the Otago Cricket Association (OCA) offered Crawford a three-year contract worth £350 per year, and a share in the management of a sports store, to play for them.

Burns, however, suggests that Crawford may have wanted to maximise his earnings to support his upcoming marriage, and notes that his South Australian teammates held no grudges and even organised a farewell presentation.

Part of the settlement involved Crawford receiving a lower salary in return for freedom to offer his services to other clubs on a freelance basis.

[122] It is unclear what his position at Repton was at this time; he seems to have had no official cricketing role and it is possible he worked as a teacher simply to maintain his amateur status.

It is as certain as anything in a man's life can be confidently postulated, that had he continued to play in English county cricket ... he would have taken his place amongst the select company of England's captains.