john arlott later commented that, on his first tour of england, constantine "learnt much that he never forgot, by no means all of it about cricket: and he recognised the game as his only possible ladder to the kind of life he wanted." when constantine returned to trinidad, he had no permanent job and little prospect of advancement in any suitable profession. he took several temporary jobs but was often forced to rely financially upon his family. however, his success had inspired him to pursue a career as a professional cricketer in england, and he began to practise to reach the required standard. although he scored 167 for shannon in 1924, and took eight for 38 for trinidad against barbados, constantine's cricket was steady but not consistently successful. he was initially dropped from the west indies team to face the marylebone cricket club (mcc) touring team during 1926, though he was recalled for the second match, once again at the insistence of austin, who wanted a good cover fielder in the team. in the match constantine was involved in an incident over short-pitched bowling. the mcc fast bowlers had bowled short at the 49-year-old austin; in retaliation, constantine bounced the mcc captain, freddie calthorpe, and only stopped after james pointed out the diplomatic row which would follow if calthorpe, a respected figure in the british establishment, was hit by the ball. once more, constantine's performances were not statistically exceptional, but his style impressed critics and spectators, and he came top of the west indies bowling averages.