After a brief career in teaching, and having spent time in Finland, Kilburn was appointed cricket correspondent at the Yorkshire Post after impressing the editor with his writing.

[4][5] An initial three-month period, with a salary of £3 per week, resulted in a written commendation from Neville Cardus, and he was appointed permanently with responsibility for cricket and rugby.

[9] His obituary in Wisden Cricketers' Almanack described his writing style: he wrote "with a fountain pen on press telegram forms at 60 or 80 words a shilling.

[10] Kilburn's writing was printed exactly as he wrote it; sub-editors did not touch anything, even if he had made a mistake, as his employers valued his style so greatly.

[7] He refused to write about off-field events which caused consternation for his editors as Yorkshire cricket was turbulent behind the scenes at the time he wrote.

[11] His position at the Yorkshire Post gave him freedom to write about whatever he chose, and he refused several offers to move to national newspapers.

[1] Kilburn had a deep love of cricket, and worried it was losing its way in embracing one-day matches and sponsorship, although he did not believe that progress was necessarily bad.

He severely criticised anything on the field which he believed fell short of acceptable standards, including the occasion in 1967 when Yorkshire won the County Championship after engaging in time-wasting tactics to avoid losing a game.

He also became the only journalist elected as a life member at Yorkshire, and opened the newly built press box at Headingley Cricket Ground in 1988.

[1] In his final years, he became blind—his sight began to fail shortly after his retirement—[8] but according to Wisden, "Jim Kilburn remained an upright, dignified man until he died".