[1] After the interruption of World War II, Brown was a member of the team dubbed "The Invincibles", who toured England in 1948 without defeat under the leadership of Don Bradman.

After poor form made his selection for the 1938 tour of England controversial, Brown responded with a total of 1,854 runs, including an unbeaten 206 that saved Australia from defeat in the Second Test, and was honoured as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year.

[4] Educated at Dulwich Hill and Petersham High Schools in Sydney, Brown started playing cricket as a wicket-keeper, before changing his focus to opening the batting.

[5] Making his first-class debut for New South Wales in a Sheffield Shield match against Queensland on 11 November 1932, Brown was run out for a duck without facing a ball, while opening with Jack Fingleton.

[16][17] Brown missed selection for the tour opener against Worcestershire—in which Australia traditionally fielded its first-choice XI—before making his debut in the second match against Leicestershire.

[19] Brown then made a century while opening the batting against Northamptonshire,[20] and an unbeaten 62 in the second innings, guiding Australia to an eight-wicket victory over the Gentlemen of England.

After an Australian protest, Voce missed the remainder of the match and Brown's innings was punctuated by angry heckling by the local supporters.

[9] Brown's strong form continued upon returning to Australia, compiling 683 runs at 45.53, including three centuries, to be the second highest run-scorer for the 1934–35 domestic season.

[9] In 1936, Brown accepted a coaching position and employment as a car salesman to move back to Queensland, representing his state of birth from 1936–37 onwards.

"[1] Brown continued past his double century and remained unbeaten on 206 from just 375 minutes when his last partner fell, leaving Australia all out for 422.

[1] Brown's innings was the 100th century by an Australian against England,[1] and the highest Test score for a batsman carrying his bat; it stood until Glenn Turner made an unbeaten 223 in 1972.

[27] Ray Robinson quipped that Brown's performance "did not cause smoke to rise from the back of those [television] sets but the charm of his style gave viewers a favourable impression of Australian batsmanship".

[9] In the next match, he carried his bat to make an unbeaten 174 against South Australia at the Adelaide Oval,[35] as his team fell to an innings defeat.

[9] Brown started the season strongly, scoring 87 and 137, but he was unable to stop New South Wales winning the opening match by three wickets.

[9] Due to World War II, cricket in Australia was scaled down and in a shortened season in 1940–41, Brown made 307 runs at 30.70 in five matches, with two half-centuries.

[9] Brown was a flight lieutenant with the Royal Australian Air Force, serving in New Guinea and the Philippines during the Second World War,[1] losing his prime years from the age of 27 to 33.

[19] First-class cricket resumed in 1945–46 after the Allied victory, and Brown began the post-war phase of his career with a steady season, scoring 604 runs at 46.46 with five half-centuries in seven matches.

[9] At the end of the season, Brown captained an Australian side on a tour of New Zealand,[22][39] and all five matches resulted in convincing victories for the tourists.

With one wicket left in the match, Brown used the toss of a coin to determine which of the debutants Colin McCool and Ian Johnson would bowl in Tests for the first time.

[4] Brown's participation in the series was overshadowed by his controversial run out by Indian left arm orthodox spinner Vinoo Mankad in the Second Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground in December 1947.

[35] Morris—who had established himself as one of Australia's first-choice opening batsmen during Brown's injury layoff during the previous season—was rested for the Fifth Test as the Australian Board trialled potential candidates for the 1948 tour of England.

[55] In the following match against Essex, he combined with Bradman in a second-wicket partnership of 219 in 90 minutes, ending with 153 as Australia scored a world-record 721 runs in one day.

[9] In contrast, middle-order batsman Neil Harvey had struggled in the initial stages of his first tour of England, failing to pass 25 in his first six innings.

[54][72][73][74] He ended with eight centuries and a total of 1,448 runs on the tour at an average of 57.92,[6][9] behind only Bradman, Hassett and Morris, with the 200 against Cambridge University his highest score.

[10] Moyes felt that the more serene English gallery allowed Brown to play to his game plan without hastening to placate impatient spectators.

Following his relocation to Queensland, Brown was a Brisbane car salesman, selling Chevrolets for Eagers and later running a sports store.

[82] His brief tenure as a national selector was marked by abuse and harassment from parochial Queenslanders, upset that he did not include his fellow statesmen in the Test team.

[2][6][12][83] Upon Bradman's death in February 2001, Brown became the oldest living Australian Test cricketer, greatly amused by the fame that came with the title.

Highly regarded by Australian cricketers of the modern era, Steve Waugh invited Brown to present Test debutant Adam Gilchrist with his baggy green.

[84] He was the last surviving Invincible to have played Test cricket before World War II and his death left only four living members of Bradman's 1948 team.