In 1977, Loxton helped to select David Hookes to make his debut in the Centenary Test, after receiving a recommendation from Bradman, who had retired from the panel. Hookes famously struck five consecutive fours in one Tony Greig over in an Australian win. The later period of Loxton's tenure was thrown into chaos when most of the leading players abandoned the existing establishment to sign contracts with the breakaway World Series Cricket—which offered substantially more remuneration—meaning that an almost-entirely new team had to be cobbled together; the 42-year-old Bob Simpson was brought out of a decade of retirement to lead the outfit. During this time, Australia's depleted team suffered many heavy defeats.