in the mid-1930s, representatives from lancashire county cricket club twice approached constantine with a view to him joining the club—his time in nelson meant that he qualified to play for lancashire, having lived in the county for the required time. there was a precedent for such a course, as the australian ted mcdonald had joined lancashire after playing as nelson's professional in the 1920s. in the case of constantine nothing happened, as members of the lancashire board and, later, players in the team opposed the idea of a black man playing for the county. in any case constantine preferred league cricket to what he perceived was the negativity and dullness of county cricket. he found the standard of play very high, stating: "never in my life have i played harder than in lancashire." in his history of west indies cricket, michael manley writes that league cricket at this time was intense and unrelenting, but: "it was in this special atmosphere of league cricket that constantine was supreme."