after scoring 72 in the opening match of the season and adding 41 against the touring englishmen for new south wales, booth retained his place in the test team for the 1962–63 ashes series. he scored his maiden test century in the first test at the gabba, compiling 112 in the first innings of a high scoring draw. thirteen innings reached fifty, but booth was the only player to reach three figures. english captain ted dexter attempted to shut down booth's scoring by employing leg theory. in the second test at the melbourne cricket ground, fred titmus bowled outside leg stump with five men on the on side, but booth completed consecutive centuries with 103 in the second innings. as a result of dexter's defensive field placings, booth scored at only half the rate he managed in the first test. booth took six hours to reach triple figures and hit only four boundaries. his innings was not enough to prevent england from completing a seven-wicket victory. booth was unable to maintain his form for the rest of the season, with 34 and 77 in the fourth test in adelaide being the only other times that he passed 20. australia won the third test, drawing the series, and booth ended the series with 404 runs at 50.50. he added a further three fifties in the sheffield shield as victoria ended new south wales' nine-year winning streak.