 Vice-captain on the triumphant tour of Australia in 1954-55 he had beaten South Africa 3–2 in 1955, considered by many to have been the most exciting Test series since the war, Australia 2–1 in 1956, the West Indies 3–0 in 1957 and New Zealand 4–0 in 1958.He was widely regarded as the best post-war batsman England produced, tall, strong and disciplined with a near-perfect technique, a straight bat and a complete range of strokes.His standards improved with the responsibilities of captaincy and his Test average as captain was 54.03.