 Although Hammond began his career in 1920 , he was required to wait until 1923 before he could play full @-@ time , after his qualification to play for Gloucestershire was challenged . His potential was spotted immediately and after three full seasons , he was chosen to visit the West Indies in 1925 – 26 as a member of a Marylebone Cricket Club ( M.C.C. ) touring party , but contracted a serious illness on the tour . He began to score heavily after his recovery in 1927 and was selected for England . In the 1928 – 29 series against Australia he scored 905 runs , then a record aggregate for a Test series . He dominated county cricket in the 1930s and , despite a mid @-@ decade slump in Test form , was made captain of England in 1938 . He continued as captain after the Second World War , but his health had deteriorated and he retired from first @-@ class cricket after an unsuccessful tour of Australia in 1946 – 47 . He appeared in two more first @-@ class matches in the early 1950s . 
