Yorkshire's dominance of Edwardian county cricket was already established: champions in 1900, 1901, 1902 and 1905. The 1908 season was the high-water mark. Captained still by Lord Hawke (the Eton, Cambridge and Yorkshire amateur who had led the side since 1883), the team comprised Hirst, Rhodes, Schofield Haigh, David Denton, John Tunnicliffe, Hubert Myers, Hubert Sedgwick and the wicketkeeper David Hunter. They played 28 first-class matches and lost none.
The most extraordinary single match was at the County Ground, Northampton, on 11-12 May. Yorkshire batted first and made 356; Northamptonshire replied with 27 in their first innings (Hirst 6 for 12, Haigh 4 for 14) and, following on, 15 in their second (Hirst 6 for 7, Haigh 2 for 8). Their aggregate of 42 was the lowest in any English first-class match and remains so over a century later. The whole match was completed inside two days.
Across the season, Hirst took 174 wickets and made 1,535 runs, Rhodes 115 wickets and 1,673 runs, Haigh 96 wickets at 13.30. The bowling depth was unmatched in the country. Yorkshire took 16 wins from 28 matches; the rest were drawn. Surrey, Lancashire and Kent — the next three in the table — could not match the depth of attack. The championship was clinched at the end of August with weeks to spare.