He played at home against Australia in 1935–36. In the second Test in Johannesburg, he made a duck in the first innings and scored 231 in the Second Test, his maiden Test century. Nourse is the only batsman to score a double century in the second innings of a Test match after being out for a duck in the first innings. The match was controversially drawn after the South Africa captain Wade appealed to the umpires against the bad light causing danger to his players, the first time that a fielding captain had successfully appealed against the light; Australia won the other four matches, and the series 4–0. The international schedule of the day meant that South Africa did not play Test cricket for three years, but Nourse then played against the English tourists in 1938–39, taking six hours to score a century in the famous 10-day-long timeless Test at Durban.