In all but two of Dickson's 13 first-class appearances for
Scotland, he was captain. He made his first-class debut against
Joe Darling's Australian team in 1905 and scored an unbeaten 62 in the fourth innings. A right-handed batsman, he held on in the dying overs with number eleven
Frederick Bull to secure a draw. The following year he had another good performance against a touring team, this time the West Indies, with contributions of 36 and 81. When Australia played Scotland at Edinburgh again in 1912, Dickson made his highest score of 98, missing out on a century when he was bowled by
Roy Minnett. On this occasion, Australia won by 296 runs. He took only one wicket in his career, which was Irish batsman
Bob Lambert. Dickson was capped just once for the
Scotland national rugby union team, when he appeared as a forward in a six-point loss to Ireland at
Inverleith during the
1905 Home Nations Championship. ==Military service==