Headingley, by five wickets to ensure the Ashes were retained. Wisden commented that: "At no time was the wicket easy for batting and Australia won largely because they possessed better spin bowling." Verity took two wickets in the match, but some critics believed his bowling could have won the match had Hammond used him more effectively. In a match where the Australian spinner O'Reilly took 10 wickets, Hammond used his fast bowlers Bowes and Ken Farnes for the majority of both innings. Commentators believed Hammond over-used his fast bowlers; Cardus wrote: "Hammond's faith in fast bowling rather exceeded his faith in the arts of Verity and Wright. The result was sad disillusionment." Barnett also said that Hammond refused to allow Verity to alter his bowling tactics, when the Yorkshire bowler wished to aim for a worn area on the pitch. As neither side had established a winning lead in the series, the final match at The Oval was to be played to a finish, no matter how long it took. England scored a record team total of 903 runs and Australia were heavily defeated. Verity, one of five Yorkshire players in the team, bowled 12 overs in the game and took two wickets. He also played a part in the achievement of Len Hutton, who scored 364 runs, breaking the record for the highest individual innings in a Test match. As Hutton's innings began to assume epic proportions, Verity stayed with him throughout the intervals, helping him to maintain concentration. On the Sunday of the match, when there was no play, Verity arranged for Hutton to have a break by the sea to relax away from cricket. Hutton commented: "I owe [Verity] the kind of debt that one can never fully repay ... His quiet, natural dignity was an immense source of strength to me throughout those long hours". The series was drawn; Verity took 14 wickets at an average of 25.28, finishing second in the England bowling averages, behind Bowes. However, Charlie Barnett, who played in the series but disliked Hammond, believed that Hammond's poor tactical use of Verity cost England potential victories in the second and fourth Tests. Verity played no other representative cricket that season, but appeared once more against the Australians for H. D. G. Leveson-Gower's team which defeated the tourists by 10 wickets. Tour to South Africa and final season In the winter of 1938–39,