afterwards, he was contacted by Yorkshire's secretary Frederick Toone following a request to Yorkshire by John Kaye. Toone recommended the engagement with MCC rather than Warwickshire, suggesting that Bowes would find greater scope for development at Lord's and, with Yorkshire's interests at heart, pointed out that he would be available to play for Yorkshire when not required by MCC. Bowes was impressed and turned down the Warwickshire offer. He quit his job at the estate agency and joined MCC on 15 April 1928, having negotiated a raise in his wage to £6 a week. Cricket career 1928 to 1929 Bowes gained valuable early experience with the Lord's ground staff and was especially grateful for coaching he received from Walter Brearley. He began his first-class career playing for MCC in 1928. Still aged nineteen, he made his first-class debut 30 May to 1 June playing against Wales at Lord's, taking three for 37 and two for 32. Neither Bowes himself nor J. M. Kilburn saw merit in that game which is currently rated first-class by CricketArchive. Kilburn wrote that Bowes' "first match of first-class rating" was MCC v Cambridge University played 4 to 6 July at Lord's. In this, Bowes took four for 20, including a hat trick, and two for 18. This achievement was noted in Yorkshire and, although Bowes did not play in any further first-class matches in 1928, the county club included him in their plans for 1929. Following further appeals to Yorkshire by John Kaye, Bowes was invited in November to meet the club president, Lord Hawke, who concluded a formal agreement with MCC that Bowes should be made available to play for Yorkshire in 1929 when not required by any MCC teams. Bowes made his first-class debut for Yorkshire against Oxford University at The Parks 8 to 10 May 1929. He took two for 28 and none for 40. In Yorkshire's next match, against Essex at the County Ground, Leyton, Bowes made his County Championship debut. He joined a full Yorkshire team that included the all-time greats Wilfred Rhodes and Herbert Sutcliffe. It also included Emmott Robinson, the great character of Yorkshire cricket who was much eulogised by Neville Cardus, and Robinson willingly became Bowes' mentor in his early Yorkshire career. Bowes took none for nineteen in the Essex first innings but did not bowl in the second as Rhodes, then aged 51, destroyed Essex with