The match had been the second of a five-Test series. West Indies had made 301 and 229; England 297. Set 234 to win on the last day, England started the final hour at 116 for 3 needing 118 with seven wickets in hand. Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith bowled almost unchanged through the evening session. The light deteriorated. The umpires offered the light; both captains kept playing.
During his innings of 19, Cowdrey had been struck on the left forearm by a Hall lifter. The arm broke. He retired hurt at 203 for 5. England slid to 228 for 9 with the last over, bowled by Hall, to come. Allen and Shackleton — England's tail — needed eight off the over to win. They added six. With one ball left and the match to be either won or saved, Shackleton was run out by Worrell, who picked the ball up at extra cover and ran to the stumps himself rather than throw.
Cowdrey, his arm in plaster after a hospital visit during the lunch interval, walked out as the new batsman. The crowd held its breath. Allen, on strike at the non-striker's end, blocked the last two balls of Hall's over. The Test was drawn at 228 for 9. England had not been beaten and West Indies had not won. Cowdrey did not have to face a ball. The plaster was still wet on his sleeve.
The image — Cowdrey at the crease with his arm in a sling — became one of the most reproduced photographs in English cricket. It was used in coaching manuals, in MCC histories and on benefit-year posters for the next thirty years. Cowdrey himself, in his autobiography, called it the strangest moment of his career.