Walters was a country boy from Dungog, New South Wales — short, slight, and famously laconic. He had played one full season for NSW and was 19 when he was named in the Australian XII for the first Test. Bob Simpson, the captain, batted Walters at six. Australia won the toss and batted on a flat Brisbane surface. By the time Walters arrived, Australia were 125 for 4 — still vulnerable on a fresh first-day pitch against a Trueman-Statham new-ball pair.
He scored 11 from his first thirty balls, edging the seamers through the slips and missing two off-breaks from David Allen. By tea he had 35. Then, as the bowlers tired, Walters opened up. The on-drive that became his trademark — played off the front foot with a high follow-through — drew applause from Trueman himself. He reached his hundred from 207 balls with an on-drive off Allen for four. He was bowled by Brown for 155 from 315 balls, with 11 fours and two sixes. Australia totalled 443 for 6 declared. The Test was drawn.
The second Test at Melbourne began on 30 December. Walters, now batting at five, came in at 168 for 3. He made 115 from 224 balls, again driving England's seamers off the front foot. The Test was drawn. The third Test at Sydney began on 7 January 1966. Walters again made a hundred — 115 from 226 balls. He was the first batsman in Test history to score centuries in his first three Ashes innings. The series was drawn 1-1; Australia retained the urn.
Walters's career would have its strange features. He averaged 56 at home and 26 away; he failed completely in England in 1968, 1972 and 1975. But his 1965-66 summer remains, statistically and stylistically, one of the great Test debuts.