The knee injury prevented Toshack from playing during the 1948–1949 Australian domestic season. The Australian team to tour South Africa in 1949–50 was named at the end of the previous season, and Toshack was omitted after a season on the sidelines. At the start of the 1949–50 season, when his Test teammates were sailing across the Indian Ocean to South Africa, Toshack made a strong start to his first-class comeback. He took 4/41 and 5/59 in a Shield match against Queensland in Brisbane, removing Ken Mackay and Wally Grout twice, helping to seal a close 15-run win. In the second match, against Western Australia, Toshack took 4/68 in the first innings before his injury resurfaced. New South Wales won the match despite Toshack's inability to bowl in the second innings. The injury cost Toshack dearly; it forced him to retire from first-class cricket and cost him a Test recall. Toshack had been offered a position on the South African tour as a reinforcement for Johnston, who had been involved in a car crash. Instead, Miller took the position and played in all five Tests.