 He drew twice against a weak New Zealand in 1949 and lost to the West Indies in 1950.After Mann and Yardley had turned down the Ashes tour Brown impressed the selectors by hitting a six into the Lord's Pavilion while smashing 122 out of 131 runs inside two hours as captain in the Gentlemen v Players match, followed with three quick wickets, and he was offered the post the same afternoon.This was still the age when the England captain had to be a gentleman, even if he was a 'passenger' in the team, Brown having made only 233 runs (23.30) and taken 14 wickets (40.79) in his 9 Tests.