at Melbourne Park, and made his mark as a bowler by taking 5 Tennyson XI wickets for 34 runs in the tourists' first innings, and 3 for 53 in their second. These performances were enough to establish a regular place in the Jamaican side. In December 1927 he travelled to Bridgetown, Barbados, to take part in a trial match which would help select the touring party for the West Indies' debut Test series, to be played against England in 1928. Hylton's performance in the match was modest, and he was not chosen for the England tour. The cricket writer Mark Whitaker believes that race may have been a factor in Hylton's non-selection, on this and later occasions: "[T]he snooty Bridgetown press dismissed him as a 'slinger' and a 'garden bowler'. Inter-island rivalry in the Caribbean of the 1920s had a nasty edge of colour-consciousness, and Leslie Hylton was very black indeed". When Tennyson brought another team to Jamaica early in 1928, Hylton played in all three representative matches, the first two of which were won by Jamaica, the third being drawn. In this last game Hylton showed his potential as a batsman, scoring half-centuries in each of his two innings. During the following years, the Jamaica side played little top-grade cricket, and Hylton's opportunities to shine were very limited. He was not selected for the West Indies side that in early 1930 played a four-Test home series against a weak MCC side led by the Hon. F.S.G. Calthorpe, although he played for Jamaica when they faced the tourists at Melbourne Park in March 1930. His opponents in this match included the England Test veterans Wilfred Rhodes and George Gunn, as well as emergent players such as Les Ames and Bill Voce. Hylton was also overlooked when the West Indies party to tour Australia in 1930–31 was chosen, likewise when the team to visit England in 1933 was selected. Between March 1928 and January 1935 he played in just five first-class matches. In one of these, against Sir Julien Cahn's XI at Melbourne Park in February 1929, he recorded his career-best bowling figures of 5 for 24. Cahn's XI included several current and past Test players. Test series 1934–35 v. England Although the MCC team that visited the West Indies in 1934–35 was lacking one or two of England's best players such as Herbert Sutcliffe and Hedley Verity, it was nevertheless