After registering a century and a fifty in five lead-in matches, He made 109 in the First Test in Brisbane but was unable to prevent defeat, as Australia trailed in a series for the first time under his leadership. He responded with 205 in the Second Test at Melbourne, setting up a total of 510 after asking the tourists to bat first and forcing an innings victory to square the series. After the Third Test saw a convincing ten-wicket victory, the captain making 29 in the first innings, Lawry scored 62 and 89 in a drawn Fourth Test in Adelaide. With Australia needing 360 to win, the captain got them off to a good start but they fell away and the last pair had to survive 26 balls at the end to save the match, 21 runs adrift of the target.