 At the start of the following season, McCabe appeared with the New South Wales Colts team in one match against Queensland, before being selected for the New South Wales Second XI to play their Victorian counterparts. McCabe scored 60 not out in the second innings and took a total of 6 / 100 for the match. He was selected to represent New South Wales in his first-class debut against Queensland in the 1928 – 29 Sheffield Shield season while the Test players competed against England. He made 60 and 34, and bowled 17 overs without success, but was later omitted when the Test players returned from international duty. In four first-class matches in his debut season, McCabe scored 197 runs at 32.83 and took a total of 1 / 111. McCabe played twice against the touring England cricket team led by Percy Chapman, once in a match at Goulburn for the Southern Districts of New South Wales, and the other time for his state, but managed only 24 runs in three innings.
