Herbert Sutcliffe in 1932–33 included the controversial "bodyline" series, in which Sutcliffe is perceived to have been one of Douglas Jardine's main supporters. Although close friends have stated that Sutcliffe did not approve of bodyline, he always acted out of fierce loyalty to his team captain and was committed to his team's cause. In statistical terms, Sutcliffe was one of the most successful Test batsmen ever; his completed career batting average was 60.73 which is the highest by any English batsman and the fifth-highest worldwide (i.e., of Test batsmen with 20 completed innings) behind only Don Bradman, Adam Voges, Graeme Pollock and
History of the England cricket team to 1939 after Captain Arthur Gilligan won the toss for the only time. It was England's first Ashes Test win in 12 years. England drew the first four Tests of the 1926 Ashes series and so the series rested on the Oval Test, for which Percy Chapman replaced Arthur Carr as captain and both the 48-year-old Rhodes and 21-year-old Larwood were selected. Hobbs and Sutcliffe scored centuries and Australia lost by 289 runs. The South African team proved stronger than before however and drew the 1927/28 series 2–2. A fourth team was, at last, introduced to Test cricket when the West Indies