He played his last Test against Australia at Melbourne in 1980–81, scoring 49 and 10 not out under the captaincy of Geoff Howarth, who had succeeded him. He hit 134 against Tasmania in the next match, and retired from first-class cricket at the end of the tour, at the age of 36. The highest of his 20 first-class centuries was 146 for Auckland against Central Districts at Auckland in 1971–72. Despite his success at Nagpur in 1969–70, afterwards he seldom bowled in Tests, and only occasionally in first-class matches.