ordeal—Barnes on matting, with wickets falling at the other end all the time? H. W. Taylor must be counted one of the six greatest batsmen of the post-Grace period. Cardus also wrote that Taylor's performance was "perhaps the most skilful of all Test performances by a batsman". Post-war Taylor returned to cricket in 1919/20 having won the Military Cross in World War I. He served 18 months in the Royal Field Artillery and two years in the Royal Flying Corps. His first match back for Natal was against Transvaal in April 1920, he scored 76 but the innings was overshadowed by Dave Nourse who scored 304 not out. This was the only match of the season however formal competition (the Currie Cup) returned for the 1920/21 season. Taylor scored 150 in the opening match of the season against Orange Free State and finished with 372 runs at an average of 53.14. The first international opponents for South Africa following the War were Australia, who toured South Africa in 1921/22. Despite the eight-year gap after the hosts' last Test, Taylor was still captain. In the first Test at Durban, Taylor was dismissed for one in the first innings, and he moved down the order to number four for the second innings and the remainder of the series. From the unaccustomed position he made scores of 29, 47, 80, 26 and 17 to finish the series with a total of 200 runs at an average of 33.33. After the first two Tests were drawn, Australia won the three match series with a ten wicket victory at Cape Town. England 1922/23 The following season saw England tour and just like nine years previous Taylor was at his best. In the first Test at Johannesburg he batted at number three and in the second innings scored a superb 176, the next highest score in the match was 50. Taylor's knock included 25 boundaries and was the largest by a South African against England. South Africa won the Test by 168 runs, it was Taylor's first victory as captain and as a Test player. He followed that in the second Test with scores of 9 and 68 as England narrowly won by one wicket. In the third Test at Durban he was moved back up to open the innings, he scored 91 and shared 110 with Bob Catterall. The third days play was washed out