his early years as a bowler, Rhodes was able to spin the ball very sharply, and while this ability decreased in later years, he became expert at working out a batsman's weaknesses. Critics considered him expert at flighting the ball; Neville Cardus wrote that "Flight was his secret. Flight and the curving line, now higher, now lower, tempting, inimical; every ball like every other ball, yet somehow unlike; each over in collusion with the others, part of a plot ..." In the early part of his career, his bowling partnership with Hirst – who like Rhodes had been born in Kirkheaton – was particularly effective and established a formidable reputation. As time passed, his accuracy increased to the extent that it seemed every ball landed in exactly the same place. In his first five seasons, he was top of the national bowling averages twice and in second place three times, while in the first six seasons after the war, he was first four times and second once. In his whole career, he only fell outside the top 20 in the bowling averages in four seasons. Rhodes claimed that he preferred batting to bowling. A right-handed batsman with a good defensive technique, Rhodes was a strong driver of the ball who scored more quickly in the earlier part of his career. Analysts maintained that Rhodes had only two or three effective shots, though his technique was good. Cricket writer E. W. Swanton described Rhodes as a "craftsman rather than an artist". Neville Cardus, in his obituary of Rhodes, said that the Yorkshireman "made himself into a batsman by practice and hard thinking", and that while often "dour and parsimonious", he was capable of hitting out. After changing to the two-eyed stance more of his runs came on the leg-side; in later years, Rhodes often used his pads rather than play a shot, a tactic generally regarded as negative. A feature of his batting career was his successful opening partnership with Hobbs, particularly their enterprise in running between the wickets. In his career, he scored over 190 in an innings five times and twice scored centuries in each innings of a match. Although Rhodes's primary function varied between bowler and batsman, he recorded 16 doubles to establish a record for any cricketer. When Rhodes was involved in matches, Cardus believed that "he was not a man given to affability", showing annoyance on