From 1926 to 1928 Lancashire won three consecutive County Championships — the only three-in-a-row by any non-Yorkshire county between the wars — built around the Australian fast bowler Ted McDonald, captain Leonard Green, and a settled batting order led by the Tyldesleys.
Lancashire had been overshadowed by Yorkshire's 1922-25 dominance. The signing of McDonald in 1924, allied to the development of George Duckworth as wicketkeeper and the maturity of the Tyldesley brothers, produced a side that finally challenged the Roses rivalry's traditional balance.
Lancashire had not won the County Championship since 1904. The signing of Ted McDonald, the Australian fast bowler from the 1921 Ashes, transformed their attack. McDonald qualified by residence and joined Lancashire in 1924; by 1926 he was the senior bowler in English cricket.
In 1926 Lancashire won the title under Major Leonard Green. McDonald took 175 wickets at 18 in his first full title-winning season. In 1927 they retained, McDonald taking 150 at 21. In 1928 they won a third in a row, with McDonald taking 178 wickets at 19. Across the three years he took over 500 first-class wickets — the most by any pace bowler in the inter-war period.
The batting was led by Ernest Tyldesley (96 hundreds in his career), J.W. Hearne, and Frank Watson. The wicketkeeping was George Duckworth's; he kept for England in 24 Tests. The 1926-28 side averaged 65 wins per season across all matches.
1924: McDonald joins Lancashire by residential qualification
1926: First Championship in 22 years; McDonald 175 wickets
1927: Title retained; McDonald 150 wickets
1928: Third successive title; McDonald 178 wickets
1929: Lancashire finish second behind Nottinghamshire
1924
McDonald joins Lancashire
1926
Lancashire win first Championship in 22 years
1927
Second consecutive title
1928
Third in a row; McDonald 178 wickets
“Without McDonald we should not have won one title. With him we won three.”
Lancashire won the title again in 1930 and 1934. McDonald played until 1931 in county cricket. Leonard Green stood down as captain after 1928. The 1926-28 dominance is the only three-in-a-row by a non-Yorkshire/Surrey county between the wars.
Lancashire's 1926-28 three-in-a-row was the only sustained period of County Championship dominance achieved by a county other than Yorkshire or Surrey between the wars, and made McDonald the first overseas-born professional to win three county titles.
Ted McDonald's career figures — 1,395 first-class wickets at 20.76 — make him one of the leading professional fast bowlers of the inter-war era. The 1926-28 Lancashire dominance broke Yorkshire's monopoly and revived Roses cricket as a competitive contest.
Yorkshire v Essex
1932-06-16
On 15-16 June 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe (313) and Percy Holmes (224*) put on 555 for the first wicket against Essex at Leyton, breaking the world first-class record for any wicket and adding a layer of folklore — including a scoreboard that read 554 for several minutes and a hastily reversed declaration — that has clung to the partnership ever since.
Australia v England
1933-02-14
With the fate of the Bodyline series in the balance and England 216 for 6 chasing 340, Eddie Paynter checked himself out of a Brisbane hospital where he was being treated for acute tonsillitis, taxied to the Gabba in pyjamas and a dressing gown, and batted for nearly four hours to score 83. England drew level on first innings, won the Test by six wickets and the series 4-1.
Australia
1934-09-25
Days after the 1934 Oval Test, Bradman fell seriously ill with appendicitis that progressed to peritonitis. With antibiotics not yet available, he was given little chance of survival; his wife Jessie left Adelaide on a sea voyage to England prepared for the worst. He recovered after weeks of intensive nursing in a London nursing home and returned to first-class cricket the following Australian summer.