[32][258] In his final series, he scored 301 runs at 33.44. When they came home the other members of the team could not say too much in his praise.

His earnings placed them roughly in the bracket of lower middle class according to McKinstry: although more prosperous than he had been during his childhood, the family were not initially financially comfortable.

[66], Hobbs missed more cricket with injuries and illnesses in 1929; between 1926 and 1930, he missed more than a third of Surrey's matches.

The selectors and players on both teams believed Hobbs performed well tactically. Swanton wrote that Hobbs combined classical play with effective defence—including protecting the wickets using his pads—against the ball unexpectedly moving towards the stumps. [19] Hobbs' father, who had helped to arrange his appearance in the match, died from pneumonia a week later. [101] Australia were once more bowled out for a low score in the third Test; this time Hobbs and Rhodes added 147 for the first wicket and Hobbs scored 187. "Maybe," replied Hobbs, "but they were nearly all made off the back foot."

By the mid-1930s, his wife was becoming mentally and physically frail. [41] Displaying a wider range of shots, he scored four centuries, including another against Essex, and established an effective opening partnership with Hayward.
[37] For his achievements that season, Hobbs was chosen as one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year.

Watching from a far, Hobbs’ has been delighted to see Imps’ phenomenal progress in recent seasons. "Standing up to the wicket is all important. [99] England recovered to win the second Test; after bowling Australia out for 184 and taking a first-innings lead of 81, the visiting team eventually faced a target of 219 to win.
[66] In all first-class cricket his aggregate was 2,042 runs at 37.81. [269] When he returned to England, Hobbs openly criticised the English tactics in newspaper columns and in a book he wrote about the tour. [86] England won the match by nine wickets and the series finished 3–2 against them.

The old easy footwork remained to the end. Before the war of 1914-1918 he was Trumperesque, quick to the attack on springing feet, strokes all over the field, killing but never brutal, all executed at the wrists, after the preliminary getting together of the general muscular motive power. Around this time he played football for local teams as a forward with some success, but struggled financially during the winter months and found it hard to find employment. [276] In all first-class cricket, Hobbs scored 61,760 runs at an average of 50.70 according to ESPNcricinfo. He had a cricket brain and the position of his feet as he met the ball was always perfect. [47] Hobbs scored four centuries in total and by the end of the season had scored 2,135 runs, averaging 37.45. Hobbs entering his second period, dispensed with some of the daring punitive strokes of his youthful raptures.

[notes 7][104] As of 2016, this remains England's highest opening partnership against Australia. On all kinds of pitches, hard and dry, in this country or in Australia, on sticky pitches here and anywhere else, even on the "gluepot" of Melbourne, on the matting of South Africa, against pace, spin, swing and every conceivable device of bowlers Hobbs reigned supreme. [16], Early in 1902, Hobbs was appointed as assistant to the professional cricket coach at Bedford School,[17] working as a groundsman and bowling in the nets.

Hobbs was the biggest attraction and a combination of his cricket earnings (estimated to be around £780 each year), the income from his business,[309] product endorsement—he was one of the first cricketers to benefit from lending his name to commercial products[3]—and ghostwritten books and articles made him relatively wealthy. Hobbs learned to bat in circumstances of technique and environment much the same as those in which Grace came to his high noon.