[1] A short and compact right-handed batsman, Hamence excelled in getting forward to drive and had an array of attractive back foot strokes.

Born in the Adelaide suburb of Hindmarsh,[7] Hamence was the cousin of Charlie Walker, a fellow Australian cricketer.

He was a compact batsman preferring attack over defence, however he suffered a weakness throughout his career against fast bowling.

[7] He joined South Australia part way through the 1935–36 season, and in March 1936, he scored a century (121) on his first-class cricket debut against Tasmania at the Adelaide Oval.

[11] At the start of his first full season, he followed this up with scores of 16 and four against the touring England team and Victoria and seven and 19 against New South Wales.

[11] He then suffered his worst period of form thus far at the start of the 1937–38 season, failing to reach double figures from 17 December 1937 until early January 1938, when he scored 64 in the second innings, against Victoria.

A series of low scores followed until he hit a vein of strong form beginning in February of that year.

Following this, in a match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground between two representative selections to raise money for the war effort, he played for Don Bradman's XI and scored 73 and 35.

[15] In the Third Test, which started on 1 January 1948, Australia achieved victory with centuries from Don Bradman and Arthur Morris meaning Hamence was again not needed to bat in the second innings.

[2] Returning once again to domestic cricket, Hamence scored 85 and 66 against Queensland, and this kept him in the running for a place in the national team, as he toured with The Invincibles in England in 1948.

[17] Hamence was a popular member of the touring squad and his cheerful nature and splendid tenor voice added to the good spirits of the team.

[12] Against Somerset, approaching his first century of the tour, the Australian players, keen to see Hamence succeed, left their card games to applaud only to see him dismissed for 99, his highest score for the season.

[19] Barnes reported that Hamence, along with the other frequent omissions Colin McCool and Doug Ring, termed themselves the "Ground Staff".

"[18] Bradman did later state that "because of the strong array of batsman ahead of him, [Hamence] seldom had an opportunity to make big scores" but "was an extremely useful reserve who could have been played in the Tests with confidence".

[19] Hamence scored 58 and 45 in his first match upon return to Australia, playing for Bradman's XI against a team captained by Lindsay Hassett on 3 December 1948.

[11] In total, Hamence played 69 matches for South Australia, scoring 4,244 runs at an average of 38.93, with 11 centuries and 22 fifties.