 Wisden's obituary described Hammond as one of the top four batsmen who had ever played, calling him "a most exciting cricketer. ... The instant he walked out of a pavilion, white-spotted blue handkerchief showing from his right pocket, bat tucked underarm, cap at a hint of an angle, he was identifiable as a thoroughbred." Throughout the 1930s, the public and critics regarded Hammond as England's best batsman, succeeding Jack Hobbs, and next to Bradman, the best in the world (although George Headley also had a claim). Among English batsmen, only Herbert Sutcliffe, with a higher Test average, was similarly successful. According to Alan Gibson, however, although Sutcliffe was dependable in a crisis, "his batting never gave quite the same sense of majesty and excitement that Hammond's did". More recently, Hammond was one of the inaugural inductees into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame, launched in January 2009, and was selected by a jury of cricket journalists as a member of England's all-time XI in August 2009.
