cricket with other boys and he began watching the local Armley club, whose ground was near his home. He particularly admired an Armley pace bowler called Tommy Drake and decided to copy his action so that, throughout his career as a top-class bowler, his delivery was always "as near Tommy Drake's as possible". Bowes went on to represent his two schools, Armley Park Council School and West Leeds High School, at cricket. At the latter, he gained his school cap after taking a hat trick. After leaving school in 1924, Bowes worked in a Leeds estate agency but continued to play cricket at weekends for a Wesleyan Sunday school team in Armley and he was the club secretary for a time. He did this for the next two years until, just after Easter in 1927, he was invited by a casual acquaintance to join the Kirkstall Educational Cricket Club in northwest Leeds. In his debut match for Kirkstall's second team, he took six wickets for only five runs, including a hat trick, and the spectators organised a collection for him. Bowes now found a mentor in John Kaye, one of the club's committee members, who was to play in instrumental part in his eventual career with Yorkshire. Bowes had a successful season with Kirkstall in 1927 and began receiving offers from other league clubs to turn professional, some of the offers being more for one match than he earned in a week at the estate agency. However, Kaye and his colleagues were determined to keep him at Kirkstall until they could arrange for him to play professionally at county level. With no apparent interest from Yorkshire at this stage, an approach was made to Warwickshire and they responded by offering Bowes a trial in April 1928. However, at the end of the 1927 season, MCC announced an intention to play against all first-class counties in 1928 and wanted to increase its professional ground staff, based at Lord's Cricket Ground. Bowes decided to apply and was invited to a trial in January 1928. At the trial, he bowled on "a net pitch of matting laid on concrete". Among the batsmen facing him were Pelham Warner and the MCC assistant secretary Ronnie Aird. Bowes made a distinct impression on them which resulted in his being offered an engagement on the Lord's ground staff for the 1928 season at £5 a week. Soon