He broke through for his first five-wicket haul on English soil in his fifth match against Glamorgan, taking 5/63 in the first innings and scoring an unbeaten 68. He added 90 in the next match against Gloucestershire before facing the MCC at Lord's in the traditional dress rehearsal for the Tests. He took 6/46 and 3/58 as Australia took victory. His wickets included leading Test batsmen Cowdrey and Ken Barrington. Davidson headed into the Tests with 257 runs at 42.83 and 26 wickets at 22.35 from eight matches.