Hurst was also selected on the 1979 tour of India. After going wicketless in two Tests – 0–51 and 0–93 – Hurst was forced to return home due to a serious back injury. "It's a shame for this to happen to Alan," said captain Kim Hughes. "He's no sloucher. I don't think he's ever come off a cricket ground in his life. He will be staying with us throughout the fourth Test.... Alan wants to help with other duties in any way he can. That's the sort of person he is... He really struggled for his rhythm and line. He just can't get around. He's very disappointed. He was hopeful he might put up with it and carry on, but it's no use now... He's lost everything. On his form against West Zone you just couldn't play him anymore. He's still got a lot of cricket left in him and he could do himself permanent damage." Faced with potential incapacitation in later life if he continued to play, Hurst opted to retire from all cricket. He took 6 first class wickets on the tour at 37.33. He played again briefly for Victoria in 1980-81 but took no wickets. In first class cricket, he captured 280 wickets at 26.28 with a best performance of eight for 84. Hurst was an athletic man in the outfield who bowled with an elaborate, "winding" delivery stride that generated real pace. He was a terrible batsman, scoring 10 ducks in 20 Test innings. In the 1978–79 Ashes series, he set a record by scoring two pairs. The only truly controversial incident of his career happened in the 1979 Perth test when Alan Hurst ran out Pakistan's number eleven batsman Sikander Bakht at the bowler's end as Bakht was backing up too far – the fourth such instance in Test cricket. Later in the day, Australian batsman Andrew Hilditch was given out after an appeal for handled the ball and became the only non-striker to have suffered that decision. Hilditch picked up a wayward throw that had dribbled onto the pitch and handed the ball back to Sarfraz Nawaz who appealed and the umpire had to give him out. This incident was in retaliation for Hurst's actions. The brief series was one of the most bad-tempered in history, caused in part by Pakistan's decision to play their WSC-contracted men. Post-match career In 2004, Hurst was appointed