[1] He became one of the leading amateur batsmen of the so-called "Golden Age" of English cricket before the First World War.

For the next three years, Spooner, along with MacLaren and Johnny Tyldesley, was the backbone of a formidable batting side that played forty-five County Championship matches without defeat between August 1903 and July 1905.

He was also noted for his watchfulness and skill at fast bowling on fiery pitches – which were the rule at Old Trafford in fine weather during the 1900s.

Among many notable innings by Spooner on fiery wickets were against Essex in 1904 and for the Gentlemen at Lord's against Arthur Fielder in 1906.

Furthermore, in 1908, when Spooner would have been in his element on rough Old Trafford pitches from which the ball often "flew", he played only one county match on the August Bank Holiday against Yorkshire.

Yet, so well-thought-of was he that, after the First World War, Spooner was offered, and accepted, the captaincy of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) tour to Australia in 1920–21.