Originally trained in spin bowling, Morris developed as a batsman during his teens and during the 1940–41 season became the first player in the world to score two centuries on his first-class debut.

His career ended after his first wife became terminally ill. Later in his life, Morris served as a trustee of the Sydney Cricket Ground for over twenty years.

If he had failed a fourth time, it could have allowed another player to claim his position,[13] but Morris secured his place with his maiden Test century, scoring 155 in the second innings,[13] and making the most of an ideal batting surface.

[18] Morris started the 1947–48 Australian season strongly, scoring 162 in his second match as New South Wales crushed the touring Indians by an innings ahead of the Tests.

[20] The selectors wished to trial other possible choices for the 1948 tour of England,[6] including Brown in the opening position, so wither Barnes or Morris had to sit out.

[24] Morris marked his first-class debut on English soil with a fluent 138 against Worcestershire,[25] which was scored in only four hours and made him the first Australian centurion on tour.

[34] Fingleton called the innings "a pretty Test century in the grandest of all cricket settings";[35] the knock was noted for powerful, well-placed cover drives.

Having lost the opening two games of the series, England were contemplating changes to their team: Tom Goddard was tipped to replace Jim Laker as the off spinner, having been in prolific form in county cricket.

Australia had only 345 minutes to reach the target, and the local press wrote them off, predicting that they would be dismissed by lunchtime on a deteriorating wicket expected to favor the spin bowlers.

[24][46] Morris promptly joined Bradman in the counter-attack, hitting three consecutive fours off Len Hutton's bowling as Australia reached lunch at 1/121.

[6][14] Neville Cardus, his former critic, praised Morris' performance during the Invincibles tour as "masterful, stylish, imperturbable, sure in defence, quick and handsome in stroke play.

"[31] Morris ended the first-class tour with 1,922 runs at 71.18, despite being troubled by a split between the first and second fingers of his left hand caused by constant jarring from the bat as he played the ball.

[55] Morris was appointed Australian vice-captain under Lindsay Hassett for a five-Test tour of South Africa in 1949–50,[56] narrowly missing out on the captaincy after a 7–6 vote by the board.

[14] Following the tour, Morris received an invitation from the New South Wales branch of the ruling Liberal Party asking him to stand as a candidate in the forthcoming state elections, an offer that he declined.

[14] In contrast to his below par Test series, Morris was in strong form during the first-class season; he scored three centuries against England in the tour matches and compiled six in all to finish with 1,221 runs at 58.14.

[84] No official reason was given by the New South Wales Cricket Association,[85] but it was speculated among the media that his penchant for wearing brightly coloured rubber-soled shoes could have upset the conservative administrators,[83] and that Morris was too genial to be captain.

[87] In spite of this, Morris started the new season consistently, scoring four fifties in his first five innings, including 55 and 39 in his state's victory over the touring South Africans ahead of the Tests.

[7] Speculation linked his difficulties on the field to his personal relationships: during the tour Morris had fallen in love with English showgirl Valerie Hudson; he spotted her when she was performing in the Crazy Gang vaudeville show at London's Victoria Palace.

[99] The seniors frequently stopped the team bus to drink at pubs, leaving their younger colleagues disgruntled at the fact that the squad travelled at around 10 miles per hour (16 km/h).

Morris started strongly with consecutive centuries against Queensland and South Australia, but was unable to maintain his form, passing fifty only twice in his remaining eight innings.

After English skipper Len Hutton won the toss and controversially sent Australia in,[105][106] Morris made 153 to lay the foundation for a score of 8/601 declared and an innings victory.

The pair scored at a rate of nearly four runs per over, despite both players being repeatedly struck by the bowling of Frank Tyson, who was regarded as the fastest bowler of his era.

[7][107] Those were the only centuries made by Australian batsmen for the entire series, and Morris was covered in bruises; he deliberately used his body to fend off short-pitched balls rather than risk a catch.

[110] Benaud noted that the situation was embarrassing and that Morris had asked him not to be offended if he sought advice from veteran players Ray Lindwall and Harvey,[110] who had been Test regulars for seven years.

[98] Although Australia took a first innings lead, they lost the low-scoring match by 38 runs after a batting collapse in the face of a Tyson pace barrage on the final day.

[119] Morris scored centuries on his first first-class appearances in four countries: England, South Africa, the West Indies and Australia, a record not equalled as of 1997.

[8][118] His childhood mentor O'Reilly said that he was a "man worth knowing", while Tyson called him "one of cricket's patricians...endowed with a genteel equanimity, without seeming aloof or less than cordial and friendly".

He then moved back to Sydney to take up a public relations job with security group Wormald International where he worked until his retirement in the late 1980s.

[135] Morris was seen as an elegant and aggressive player, and is regarded alongside Clem Hill, Neil Harvey and Allan Border as one of Australia's greatest left-handed batsmen.

[4] According to cricket writer Ray Robinson, "no other post-war batsman has rivalled his smashing counter-attacks on bowling swift enough to give the toughest team the tremors…A menacing bouncer colliding with Morris' bat was like a rocky fist against an iron jaw.