The diminutive Hassett was an elegant middle-order batsman, described by Wisden as, "... a master of nearly every stroke ... his superb timing, nimble footwork and strong wrists enabled him to make batting look a simple matter".

[1][2] His sporting career at school singled him out as a precocious talent, but he took a number of seasons to secure a regular place in first-class cricket and initially struggled to make large scores.

Despite his success, Hassett was unable to register his maiden first-class century, although he did manage seven consecutive fifties in nine innings for the season, including a 93 against Queensland and 83 against arch-rivals New South Wales in a consistent run that helped Victoria to the Sheffield Shield title.

In a low-scoring match in a batsman-friendly series, Australia, chasing a target of only 105 runs to win, had slumped to 3/50 when Hassett came to the crease as an approaching storm threatened to either end the game or make the pitch difficult to bat on.

Hassett calmly hit 33 runs from 36 balls,[14] to guide the tourists to a five-wicket victory,[9] much to the relief of his captain Don Bradman, who was so nervous about the outcome that he could not watch the play.

He appeared to make his strokes very late and, although adopting almost a two-eyed stance, had, so far as could be seen, no technical faults ... there was a good deal of surprise that he did not come off in the big matches although it must not be forgotten that his second innings at Leeds counted a lot in Australia's victory.

Hassett's method was predicated on counter-attacking: whenever O'Reilly bowled his famed wrong 'un, he could read this delivery in its flight (whereas most other batsmen could not) and he advanced down the pitch to hit the ball over the fielders on the leg side.

[20] Hassett had scored five half-centuries in the five preceding matches of the season, including three in four innings against Grimmett's South Australia,[9] and ended the Australian summer with 897 runs at 74.75.

Officially a military unit, the team's commanding officer was Squadron Leader Stan Sismey of the Royal Australian Air Force, although Hassett was the on-field captain.

It was a tougher proposition for Hassett's men, as all but one of the nine matches were against first-class opposition,[35] and many of the players regarded the local umpires as being deliberately biased in favour of the home teams.

[53][54] Hassett's team was saved by the clock against Queensland when the time ran out with the hosts four runs short of their target, but their fortunes were reversed in the final match when Tasmania hung on with only one wicket in hand to salvage a draw.

As the military men played poorly in Australia, the national selectors concluded that their achievements against England must have been against weak opposition,[56] and only Hassett and Miller were selected for the Australian tour of New Zealand.

[58] One motive speculated for his being overlooked was that he had rested himself from the match against Victoria because he was tired of the long periods in the military away from his family and decided instead to spend the time in Melbourne with his wife and young daughter; this supposedly drew the ire of the Victorian Cricket Association.

[62] Although the crowd continually barracked Hassett for his slow scoring, Ray Robinson felt that he played a crucial "anchoring" role in support of Bradman, who initially struggled with his timing, controversially survived an appeal for a catch by Jack Ikin, then limped through the latter stages of his innings with a strained muscle.

[94] Hassett and Bradman were heckled for their slow batting but they remained unhurried in the face of England's stifling tactics Australia had plenty of time after bowling out their opponents easily.

[89] However, the other Australian batsmen stepped up and scored 3/404 in 330 minutes on the final day to set a new world record for the highest successful Test runchase, ensuring an unassailable 3–0 series lead.

Wisden opined that "in addition to his playing ability Hassett's cheerfulness and leadership, which extended to off-the-field relaxation as well as in the more exacting part of the programme, combined to make him an ideal vice-captain able to lift a considerable load off Bradman's busy shoulders".

[9][120] The local newspaper, The Natal Mercury said that "Renowned for their fighting qualities as a cricketers, the occasion brought the best out of the Australians ... That indomitable spirit to win through, no matter what the circumstances may be, was in most marked evidence.

[9][10] Wisden, taking into consideration Australia's post-war record and the West Indies' success during their 1950 tour of England, declared the 1951–52 series between the two sides to be, "the unofficial cricket championship of the world".

[9] However, this was negated by the fact that the tourists only had one match of comparable standard before the Tests, prompting Hassett to make some unusually blunt comments, saying that "The West Indies have suffered from sheer stupidity in the organisation of their tour".

Having been injured on the eve of the Test, Hassett's withdrawal forced the selectors to call in batsman Phil Ridings at late notice, but some of the board members could not be contacted to ratify the decision.

[135][136] The Australian Board of Control's concern that—after losing money on the previous season's tour by the West Indies—the series would be another financial disaster resulted in South Africa offering an indemnity of £10,000 against any losses.

This compelled Hassett to delay his second innings declaration: South Africa then forced a draw by batting out 73 (eight-ball) overs against the depleted bowling attack with four wickets in hand.

[138][139] In anticipation of the forthcoming tour of England, Australian selectors made a fateful decision to rest Lindwall and Miller for the last Test when Hassett won the toss and elected to bat.

[9] The tourists looked set for victory and retention of The Ashes at the start of the final day, but time-wasting and defiant defence from the English batsmen left Australia a target of 177 in the last two hours.

[146] At that point, English medium-pacer Trevor Bailey began bowling with the wicket-keeper more than two metres down the leg side in order to deny the Australians an opportunity to hit the ball, but the umpires did not penalise them as wides.

[147] The match was also marred by a series of umpiring decisions made by Frank Chester against the Australians, leading Hassett to request that he not be appointed for the Fifth Test, something the English cricket authorities granted.

England then took a 31-run lead and Hassett was out for only 10 in the second innings as Australia fell for only 162,[9] as the local spinners Jim Laker and Tony Lock cut down the Australians on a turning surface.

[155][156] During the 1948 tour of England, he was reported to have unnerved his teammates and tempted fate by bringing a toy duck into the dressing room, and held up play during a county match by hiding the ball in a pile of sawdust.

[155] In the Third Test of the same tour, after dropping two hooked catches from Washbrook, Hassett responded by borrowing a policeman's helmet, before motioning to Ray Lindwall to bowl another bouncer.