Wisden overview
Born in Toowoomba but raised in Sydney, Bill Brown was a courtly right-hand opener with a flair for big scores and a signature leg-glance. He was run out without facing a ball on his first-class debut in November 1932, and twice infamously run out at the bowler's end by Vinoo Mankad – but ironically he was otherwise known for his exceptional judgment between the wickets and a wordless understanding with Jack Fingleton. On his first tour of England, in 1934, Brown made a poised 105 in the Lord's Test; on his second, in 1938, he carried his bat there for 206, and was second to Bradman in the team aggregate and averages. After service in the Royal Australian Air Force, he captained Australia in their first postwar Test, against New Zealand at Wellington in March 1946, and toured England a third time with the 1948 "Invincibles". A Queensland and Australian selector after his 1950 retirement, the unassuming and popular Brown is Australia's only surviving prewar Test cricketer. Gideon Haigh

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