Goddard was appointed captain for the five-Test series against the visiting English side in 1964–65. However, after England won the First Test and the next two were drawn, the selectors asked him to relinquish the captaincy. They wanted him to issue a statement, "the gist of which was that he had "asked" to be relieved of the captaincy". He refused to do so, and they let him remain captain for the rest of the series. When he scored his only Test century, 112, in the Fourth Test, "almost the entire England team moved over to congratulate this most popular player. The crowd rose for fully a minute. It was an inspiring spectacle." Goddard finished the series with 405 runs at 40.50, and 6 wickets at 51.66.