Tomlinson made his first-class debut for Derbyshire in August 1920 when he bowled 5-53 against Sussex, taking the wickets of Harold and Arthur Gilligan and Maurice Tate.
Oxford ran up a high score before overnight storms created a very sticky wicket and the Cambridge team which included Gubby Allen and Claude Ashton were quickly dismissed in two innings.
He was a right-hand batsman and played 65 innings in 38 first-class matches with a top score of 66 and an average of 14.94.
[3] In 1933 he married Rosemary Vaughan Wilkes, the eldest daughter of the proprietors and in 1936 succeeded his father-in-law as headmaster.
Tomlinson's sister Wanda married Keith Bullen a schoolmaster and poet in Cairo and founded Manor House School in Egypt.