Neil Harvey with the Australian cricket team in England in 1948

Neil Harvey was a member of Donald Bradman's famous Australian cricket team, which toured England in 1948 and was undefeated in their 34 matches. This unprecedented feat by a Test side touring England earned them the sobriquet The Invincibles.

Aged 19, Harvey was the youngest player of the touring party. An attacking left-handed middle-order batsman, he had become the youngest Australian to score a Test century by compiling 153 in the Fifth Test against India in the preceding Australian summer of 1947–48. However, Harvey struggled early on in the tour, having difficulty adapting to English conditions. After being omitted from the first-choice team in the first half of the tour, Harvey's performances improved with his increasing familiarity with local conditions and he was called into the team for the Fourth Test at Headingley after an injury to Sid Barnes. Harvey scored 112 in a first innings counter-attack to keep Australia in contention after they had suffered a top-order collapse. Harvey hit the winning boundary in the second innings as Australia won the match with a Test world record successful run-chase of 3/404. He retained his place for the Fifth Test, ending the series with 133 runs at a batting average of 66.50.

Overall, Harvey ended with 1,129 runs at 53.76 in the first-class matches with four centuries, placing him sixth on the run-scoring aggregates and seventh in the batting averages for Australia. Harvey was an acrobatic fielder, regarded as the best in the Australian team. He was twelfth man in the Tests before he broke into the playing XI, and took several acclaimed catches throughout the tour, finishing with 17 catches as well as a solitary wicket with his occasional off spin.