J.T. Tyldesley — Lancashire's Senior Batter of the Edwardian Era

Lancashire had been one of the strong counties of the 1890s but the retirement of A.N. Hornby and the gradual decline of A.C. MacLaren's run-getting left them dependent on the professional core, of which Tyldesley was the central figure.

Tyldesley made his Lancashire debut in 1895 and was first selected for England against South Africa in 1898-99. He is among the small group of professional batters to have scored over 1,000 first-class runs in every English summer between 1900 and 1909. His most prolific season was 1901, when he scored over 3,000 runs at over 50; he repeated the 3,000-run mark in 1907. Although he never made a Test triple-century, he was the senior professional batter of his generation, the foundation of the Lancashire batting that won the 1904 county championship and the man on whom the rebuilding of England's batting after Stoddart and MacLaren depended.