In the 1928-29 Ashes Wally Hammond scored 905 runs in five Tests at an average of 113.12 — at the time, and for the next 60 years, the most by any batsman in any Test series. England won the series 4-1 under Percy Chapman.
Hammond was 25 by the start of the series, in his physical prime, and supported by an English batting order containing Hobbs (then 46), Sutcliffe, Hendren and the captain Chapman. The Australian attack of Gregory, Grimmett, Hartkopf and Wall was no match for the discipline of his off-side play.
Hammond had emerged in 1927 with 1,000 runs by end of May; in 1928 he had scored a maiden Test hundred in South Africa. The 1928-29 Ashes in Australia was the series in which his domination of Test bowling became total. Across five Tests he scored 905 runs in nine innings — 251, 200, 32, 119*, 177, 38, 19, 11, 16, 38. He hit double-centuries in successive Tests (Sydney and Melbourne), passed 100 four times, and averaged 113.12.
The innings that defined the series was the 251 at Sydney in the second Test in December 1928, made in 461 minutes against the wrist-spin of Grimmett and Mailey and the pace of Gregory and Wall. The 200 at Melbourne in the third Test came in 398 minutes; the 119* at Adelaide in the fourth Test was made in a chase of 332 that England won by 12 runs. The series was won by England 4-1 — the first English Ashes win in Australia for 17 years.
The 905-run series record stood as the highest aggregate by any batsman in a Test series until Garry Sobers's 824 in 1957-58 came close, and was definitively passed only by Sir Donald Bradman's 974 in the 1930 Ashes — the immediate response of Australia's emerging master to Hammond's 1928-29 dominance.
First Test, Brisbane: Hammond 44 and 28; England win by 675 runs
Second Test, Sydney: 251 — made in 461 minutes, the highest of his Test career
Third Test, Melbourne: 200 — successive double-centuries
Fourth Test, Adelaide: 119* sees England home in a 332 chase by 12 runs
Fifth Test, Melbourne: Australia win by 5 wickets, but Hammond passes 900 for the series
Nov 1928
First Test, Brisbane — modest start for Hammond
Dec 1928
Sydney: Hammond 251
Jan 1929
Melbourne: 200; successive double-centuries
Feb 1929
Adelaide: 119* in winning chase of 332
Mar 1929
Series ends 4-1; Hammond 905 runs at 113.12
“Hammond at the wicket in 1928-29 had the air of a man who could not be got out, even when the bowling was good and the conditions difficult.”
England retained the Ashes; Hammond was confirmed as the senior English batsman; the figure of 905 runs stood as the Test series record until Bradman's 974 in 1930 (and was not exceeded by an Englishman until 2026).
Hammond's 905 runs in 1928-29 was the highest Test series aggregate ever scored at the time, and the performance that established him as the senior English batsman from then until 1947.
Hammond's 905 in 1928-29 remains the second-highest Test series aggregate by any batsman, behind only Bradman's 974 in the 1930 Ashes. It is the highest by any batsman not named Bradman.
Yorkshire v Essex
1932-06-16
On 15-16 June 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe (313) and Percy Holmes (224*) put on 555 for the first wicket against Essex at Leyton, breaking the world first-class record for any wicket and adding a layer of folklore — including a scoreboard that read 554 for several minutes and a hastily reversed declaration — that has clung to the partnership ever since.
Australia v England
1933-02-14
With the fate of the Bodyline series in the balance and England 216 for 6 chasing 340, Eddie Paynter checked himself out of a Brisbane hospital where he was being treated for acute tonsillitis, taxied to the Gabba in pyjamas and a dressing gown, and batted for nearly four hours to score 83. England drew level on first innings, won the Test by six wickets and the series 4-1.
Australia
1934-09-25
Days after the 1934 Oval Test, Bradman fell seriously ill with appendicitis that progressed to peritonitis. With antibiotics not yet available, he was given little chance of survival; his wife Jessie left Adelaide on a sea voyage to England prepared for the worst. He recovered after weeks of intensive nursing in a London nursing home and returned to first-class cricket the following Australian summer.