opening the bowling and batting at number seven. In his third match he hit his first century, 100 not out against Eastern Province, and he finished the season with 433 runs at 43.30 and 18 wickets at 30.00. The next season, he opened the batting for Natal with the captain, Jackie McGlew, and in his second match as opener he hit 174 and took 5 for 73 (also opening the bowling) against Western Province. He continued to perform consistently, helping Natal to victory in the Currie Cup in 1954–55 with 460 runs at 51.11, 10 catches, and 9 wickets at 16.00 in six matches, and was selected to tour England in 1955. In September 1954 he married Jean, who was born in England. They eventually had two children. Early Test career 1955 series In 23 matches on the 1955 tour Goddard hit 1163 runs at 30.60 and took 60 wickets at 21.90. He played in all five Tests, opening the batting and, in two Tests, the bowling as well. In a series in which bowlers dominated, he took 25 wickets at 21.12 and made 235 runs at 23.50. He played a big part in the victory in the Fourth Test at Leeds, making 9 and 74 (in an opening partnership of 176 in four and a quarter hours with McGlew after South Africa had trailed by 20 on the first innings) and taking 2 for 39 and 5 for 69. On the last day he "bowled over the wicket without relief from 11.30 a.m. until the match was won at 4.12 pm", finishing with figures of 62–37–69–5. Summing up the tour, Norman Preston wrote that although Goddard "was obviously a cricketer of great possibilities"', he was mostly a "defensive cricketer": "When batting, survival at the crease was his main consideration, and when bowling ... he aimed persistently at or outside the leg stump to a field set suitably for those tactics". 1956–57 series When England toured South Africa in 1956–57, in another series dominated by the bowlers Goddard top-scored in four innings and led the South African aggregates and averages with 333 runs at 33.30, with a top score of 69. He also took 12 catches, which remains the South African record for a series (shared with Bert Vogler and Bruce Mitchell) and 15 wickets at 24.66. Wisden'''s summary said he was now "one of the big personalities in world