England adopted an aggressive strategy in the second Test, but could not avoid a second defeat. Yardley frequently changed his bowlers to unsettle the Australians in their first innings, and took two for 35 himself as England briefly held the advantage. However, the lower order batsmen mounted a recovery, Yardley being criticised for his reluctance to bowl Doug Wright. The England captain then arrested a batting collapse by adding 87 with Denis Compton, scoring 44 himself, but Australia led by 135 on first innings. Yardley took two wickets in two balls in Australia's second innings, narrowly missing a hat-trick when Keith Miller only just got his bat down on the ball to avoid being bowled, and had figures of two for 36, but Australia scored 460 for seven and bowled England out for 186. In between Tests, Yardley scored his only century of the season, but his contributions to the third Test were minimal. He scored 22 and bowled four wicketless overs. However, the home side fought back in the match, for which Len Hutton was dropped. England scored 363 and bowled out Australia for 221. They scored 174 for three before declaring, but rain intervened to prevent Yardley pushing for a win.