5 great Australian captains who never won an Ashes series in England

#4 Lindsay Hassett

Lindsay Hassett

Lindsay Hassett was one of the most successful batsmen of his era. Few cricketers have matched Hassett’s skills as a batsman. He was one of those batsmen who made strokeplay look incredibly easy - his timing was superb and his nimble footwork and strong wrists enabled him to make batting look very simple.

The Victoria-born batsman made his debut in 1938 and played for about 15 years (in which 10 years he played alongside Sir Don Bradman). It was only after Bradman retired, Hassett was given captaincy. He was one of the shrewdest captains to have played for Australia. He was typically expressionless with the faintest hint of smile, and the opposition never had any idea of what was going through his mind.

Under him, Australia never lost a series before the Ashes in 1953. In his first 19 Tests as captain, Australia won 14 of them. But the Ashes in 1953 in England was his last series (both as player and captain). England won the series 1-0 (where they regained the Ashes for the first time since 1933). Hassett’s performance wasn’t affected as he finished as the second highest run-getter in the series.

The 1953 Ashes in England was Australia’s only series loss under him. Hassett's captaincy record of 14 wins and 4 losses in 24 Tests puts him among one of the best captains to have played for Australia (he had a win-loss ratio of 3.5).