Although Gladwin headed the first-class averages in the 1948, he did not play against the 1948 Australians, the team dubbed "The Invincibles". He did, however, play five Tests on the tour to South Africa in 1948–49 under George Mann. There he became a national hero, by running the leg bye that won the Durban Test for England, to achieve the only last-ball victory in the history of Test matches.[1]