 During the 1908 season, Crawford narrowly failed to complete his third double. He scored 1,371 runs at an average of 37.05 and took 98 wickets at 21.48. His season began with a probable dispute over the Surrey captaincy. H. D. G. Leveson Gower had been appointed captain for 1908 but the combination of an injury and his marriage left him unavailable for four matches near the beginning of the season. Crawford also missed the beginning of the season; a newspaper article by Albert Trott, a former Australian Test all-rounder now playing for Middlesex, suggested that Crawford withdrew from the team because he was not appointed captain in Leveson Gower's absence. Instead Harry Bush, who had not played first-class cricket for five years, led the team. Trott was sympathetic to Crawford, stating that the Surrey committee went out of their way "to inflict a most undeserved slight" on Crawford.
