one of six cricketing brothers, four of whom represented victoria, harvey followed his elder brother merv into test cricket and made his debut in january 1948, aged 19 and three months. in his second match, he became the youngest australian to score a test century, a record that still stands. harvey was the youngest member of the 1948 invincibles of don bradman to tour england, regarded as one of the finest teams in history. after initially struggling in english conditions, he made a century on his ashes debut. harvey started his career strongly, with six centuries in his first thirteen test innings at an average over 100, including four in 1949–50 against south africa, including a match-winning 151 not out on a sticky wicket. as bradman's team broke up in the 1950s due to retirements, harvey became australia's senior batsman, and was named as one of the wisden cricketers of the year in 1954, in recognition of his feat in scoring more than 2,000 runs during the 1953 tour of england.