 At St Peter 's School , Crawford combined his teaching role with supervision of sports , including acting as coach for the cricket team . On several occasions , he had to request leave from the headmaster to play first @-@ class cricket . After arriving in Australia in December 1909 , he was playing district cricket for East Torrens within a week , and played in South Australia 's last three matches in the Sheffield Shield competition ; the team went on to win the trophy for the first time since 1893 – 94 . Crawford played a large part in this success . There was some controversy over his eligibility to play ; New South Wales initially protested , but there was a precedent for ignoring the requirement of a three @-@ month qualification period , and the New South Wales Cricket Association ( NSWCA ) Executive Committee accepted this in the case of Crawford , to the displeasure of the full NSWCA . Over four seasons , Crawford played 22 matches for South Australia , scoring 1 @,@ 512 runs at an average of 40 @.@ 86 and taking 120 wickets at 23 @.@ 86 . Green suggests that such a performance would have earned him Test selection if he had been Australian , and Wisden noted that his record in Australia was impressive . 
