and his friend and teammate Bill Bowes, to analyse their errors. Bowes later wrote: "To Wilfred Rhodes and Emmott Robinson ... I owe most for what I learned of first-class cricket—and Hedley Verity shared my debt." Verity enjoyed long technical discussions with Rhodes and, according to Hirst, took in the advice "like a sponge takes water". Even successful performances were critiqued, including Verity's against Glamorgan and Hampshire. At the end of the season, critics in the press seemed convinced a successor to Rhodes had been found, and Verity was spoken of as a certainty to become an England regular. Test debut When the 1931 season started, many critics and journalists watched Verity closely to see how he compared to Rhodes. Their initial impressions were favourable as Verity took five for 42 against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in Yorkshire's first match of the season and five for 42 against Cambridge University. Then, in his fifth game, Verity became only the second man, after Alonzo Drake, to take all 10 wickets in a single innings for Yorkshire. Against Warwickshire, on his 26th birthday, Verity took 10 for 36 in the second innings, having taken three wickets in the first innings, to give Yorkshire an innings victory. Verity followed this performance with five for 54 against Lancashire, but a week after his 10 wickets against Warwickshire, Frank Woolley hit four sixes from Verity's bowling as the Yorkshire bowler conceded 70 runs from 12 overs without taking a wicket. The rest of his season was successful. Favoured by pitches made receptive to his bowling by rain, he recorded impressive performances, earning selection for the Players against the Gentlemen at Lord's, where he took five wickets in the Gentlemen's first innings. He was also selected in the less prestigious Gentlemen v Players fixtures at The Oval and Scarborough and was awarded his county cap by Yorkshire. Having been watched by England selectors, and after taking 11 wickets for Yorkshire in their match against the touring New Zealand team, Verity was selected in the final two Test matches of the series between England and the tourists. The first match was drawn after the New Zealand team performed above expectations and England brought in four new players, one of whom was Verity. On his debut, he took four wickets for 75 runs in the game. The Cricketer noted room for improvements in his technique but observed