 In the 1937 season, Hammond scored 3,252 runs at an average of 65.04, passing 3,000 runs a second time, and taking 48 wickets. In the three Tests against New Zealand, he passed the previous record number of England appearances, overtaking Frank Woolley's 64 Tests. While scoring 140 in the first Test, he passed the total number of runs scored by Jack Hobbs to become the leading run scorer in Tests, a record he held until it was broken by Colin Cowdrey in December 1970. This innings was his only score above fifty in the series, in which he scored 204 runs (average 51). At the end of the season, in November 1937, it was announced that he had accepted a job, joining the Marsham Tyres board of directors, meaning he would play as an amateur in the future. This led to immediate speculation that he would be made captain of England in the 1938 Ashes series. The chairman of selectors, Plum Warner, later wrote that there was never any doubt from then that Hammond would be captain.
