innings before the Tests, the retirement of Arthur Morris after the previous West Indies series opened a vacancy in the Australian batting order, and Burge was recalled. In the first three Tests, he could only manage 84 runs at 16.80, and after single figure scores in the Third Test at Headingley, trapped leg before wicket twice by the off spin Jim Laker on a very dry surface as Australia suffered their first innings defeat in 18 years, was dropped for the final two Tests. He was not productive in the tour games outside the Tests after the start of the Ashes series, making only four fifties in 12 innings and he was unable to earn a Test recall during the tour. On the Test tour of the Indian subcontinent en route back to Australia, Burge was recalled after a defeat in the one-off Test against Pakistan in Karachi, as injuries and illness beset batsmen and all-rounders Ron Archer, Ian Craig and Keith Miller. He had his first full and consistent Test series. After making 35 in the opening match in Madras, which Australia won by an innings, he made his first half centuries at Test level, scoring 83 and 58 in the Second and Third Tests at Bombay and Calcutta respectively. He compiled 198 runs at 49.50 as Australia took the series 2–0. During the Indian leg of the tour, Burge's father suffered a heart attack, but any prospect of him returning home early was quashed by Jack's strident objections. In the 1956–57 Australian season, scored consistently heavily for the first time at first-class level. He opened his campaign with centuries in consecutive matches against Western Australia and Victoria, and failing to convert his starts into large scores in the middle part of the season—he registered seven consecutive scores between 20 and 80—he registered his maiden first-class double century in the final match of the summer, 210 against Victoria, having been dropped first ball. He ended the Australian season with 718 runs at 71.80, despite a personal loss. During the season, Jack Burge suffered a fatal heart attack, forcing his son to retire mid-innings during a national trial match, which doubled as a testimonial for pre-World War II Test players Stan McCabe and Bill O'Reilly. He toured New Zealand at the season's end and due to his keeping ability, Australia did not send a reserve for Barry Jarman. Burge said