Bill Brown was an outstanding opening batsman and excellent fieldsman for Australia on either side of the Second World War, his achievements perhaps overshadowed by his more lauded contemporaries. He averaged nearly 47 in Tests, and over fifty in first-class cricket, making 39 first-class hundreds. He would have undoubtedly played more Test cricket if it were not for the war. An unspectacular bat, he was a superb glancer, and deft placer of the ball. He had a full range of shots, however, and was hard to tie down.

The son of a dairy farmer and hotel owner, Brown was born in Toowoomba, Queensland. Aged three, business failure hit the family, and they moved to Marrickville in inner Sydney. The family's poor financial position meant that they lived in a one-bedroom home, with Brown and his brother sharing a bed. Educated at Dulwich Hill and Petersham High Schools in Sydney, Brown started playing cricket as a wicket-keeper, before changing his focus to opening the batting. He left high school after two years, but was unable to find regular full-time work amid the Great Depression.

In 1929/30, Brown played grade cricket for Marrickville Cricket Club, but was unable to hold down a regular place. He was on the verge of leaving Sydney when an innings of 172 in the Poidevin-Gray Shield reinvigorated his prospects. Brown progressed through the grades and reached the club's First XI, where he performed steadily to earn selection for New South Wales in 1932/33. Making his first-class debut for New South Wales in a Sheffield Shield match against Queensland on 11 November 1932, Brown was run out for a duck without facing a ball, while opening with Jack Fingleton. However, the match ended happily with Brown's team winning decisively by an innings and 274 runs.

The following season, in the opening match of the season against Queensland at Brisbane in November 1933, Brown made 154, partnering Bradman in a stand of 294 in just three hours. This set up a total of 4/494 declared and an innings victory. He followed this with 205 in an opening stand of 340 against Victoria. Brown amassed two further half-centuries to end with 878 runs for the season at an average of 67.53, which placed him second behind Bradman in the first-class run-scoring aggregates.

When the selectors met to discuss the tour party for the 1934 tour of England, Brown and Fingleton had similar figures, but with the incumbent Victorian opening pair of Bill Ponsford and captain Bill Woodfull firmly in place, there was only one spot available for a reserve opener. The selectors asked Bradman - Australia's leading batsman - for advice. Bradman nominated Brown, believing that his style was better suited to English pitches. Bill Brown justified his selection before departure with a pair of 90s in two matches for a combined Australian XI against Tasmania.

The young batsman made a century against Cambridge University in his second tour match, making 105 in the middle order. Batting at number 3 against Lancashire in the final tour match before the Tests, Brown scored 119. After compiling 351 runs at 43.88 in the opening tour matches, he was selected for the Test side. Playing in all five Tests, Brown made his debut at Trent Bridge, Nottingham and scored 22 in his first innings. After Australia lost three early wickets in the second innings, Brown scored 73 to help secure a winning lead.

Brown was promoted to open in the Second Test at Lord's with Woodfull, after Ponsford was unavailable due to illness. At the home of cricket, Brown made his maiden Test century, scoring 105 in the first innings. He was retained as opener upon Ponsford's return for the Third Test, with Woodfull dropping down the order in a reshuffled batting line-up. Brown made 72 and a duck. The match ended in a draw after both teams passed 490 in the first innings. He was unable to pass 20 in the final two Tests and ended the series with 300 runs at 33.33. Despite his inability to make a substantial contribution, Australia won the Fifth Test by 562 runs to reclaim the Ashes 2–1.

Brown's strong form continued upon returning to Australia, compiling 683 runs at 45.53, including three centuries to be the second highest run-scorer for the 1934/35 domestic season. He started the season with the testimonial match for Woodfull, who retired upon returning to Australia. Brown scored 102 in the second innings to help Woodfull's men defeat Victor Richardson's XI by seven wickets. With the retirement of Woodfull and Ponsford after the tour of England, Brown and his state partner Fingleton became Australia's opening pair for the 1935/36 tour of South Africa. It was one of the most productive phases of both men's career.

Brown started the tour consistently, scoring 148, 58, 31 and 28 not out in the three warm-up matches. In the first match of the tour against Natal, both Brown and Fingleton made centuries; the first two matches were won by an innings and the third by ten wickets. Brown scored three consecutive half-centuries in the first two Tests in Durban and Johannesburg. Australia won the first by nine wickets and were 124 runs from victory with eight wickets in hand in the second when bad light stopped play. In the Third Test at Cape Town, the pair set a new Australian opening record of 233, which laid the foundation for a large Australian total and an innings victory. It was Australia's first double-century opening stand in Test cricket.

He scored 34 and 84 in Australia's only innings of the Fourth and Fifth Tests in Johannesburg and Durban, making solid opening stands with Fingleton, who scored three consecutive centuries. The pair laid the platform for two further innings victories, as Australia took the five-Test series 4–0. Brown compiled 417 runs at 59.57 for the series. He scored a further four fifties in the remaining tour matches to end with 1,065 runs at 62.65.

In 1936, Brown accepted a coaching position and employment as a car salesman to move back to Queensland, representing his state of birth from 1936/37 onwards. He was appointed captain the following season. Brown started the new season strongly, scoring 111 for Victor Richardson's XI in a testimonial match against Bradman's XI in the opening match of summer. In November, Brown played for an Australian XI and Queensland in two matches against the touring England team, scoring 71 and 74 in the two drawn matches.

His 1936/37 season was interrupted by injury and he appeared in only the Third and Fourth Tests against England. They were relatively unsuccessful, yielding only 95 runs at 23.75 in four innings without passing fifty. Nevertheless, Australia won the two matches. Brown started the English tour in patchily form, although Australia won each of their first four matches by an innings. In his first four innings, Brown passed five only once, scoring 72 against Oxford University. He returned to form with an unbeaten 194 against Northamptonshire, helping to set up an innings win, before adding another 96 in the next match against Surrey. Brown entered the Tests with 504 runs at 56.00 in the lead-in tour matches.

After adding 48 in Australia's first innings of 411, Brown scored 133 in the second innings of the First Test at Nottingham after the tourists were forced to follow-on, helping Bradman (144 not out) to save the Test. The Australians reached 6/427 in the second innings when the match ended in a draw. Brown's most celebrated innings came in the Second Test at Lord's, carrying his bat to score 206 in the first televised Test match. Brown's innings was the 100th century by an Australian against England. They went on to draw the match, which was crucial in Australia's eventual retention of the Ashes.

Immediately after making his highest Test score at Lord's, Brown recorded his highest first-class score of 265 not out against Derbyshire. The Third Test was washed out without a ball being bowled, and Australia won the Fourth Test by five wickets in a low-scoring match to retain the Ashes. Throughout the Tests, Brown aggregated 512 runs at 73.14, totalling 1,854 runs at 59.57 in all first-class matches for the tour. Upon returning to Australia, Brown scored 1,057 runs at 105.70 in the 1938/39 Australian season, including 990 at 110.00 in six Sheffield Shield matches.

Due to World War II, cricket in Australia was scaled down and in a shortened season in 1940/41, Brown made 307 runs at 30.70 in five matches, with two half-centuries. In 1941/42, he played one match, his last first-class fixture during the war, scoring 56 and 69 in a narrow 19-run win over New South Wales. Brown was a flight lieutenant with the Royal Australian Air Force, serving in New Guinea and the Philippines during the Second World War, losing his prime years from the age of 27 to 33. First-class cricket resumed in 1945/46 after the Allied victory, and Brown began the post-war phase of his career with a steady season.

Australia played its inaugural Test against New Zealand in Wellington, a match that was retrospectively given Test status. The uncertain status of the tour saw the players wearing blazers that were labelled ABC (Australian Board of Control), rather than the Australian coat of arms. Brown led from the front, topping the tour aggregates and averages, with 443 runs at 73.83 in five matches. Brown's solitary Test a captain makes him the first and the only native Queenslander to have led Australia. Brown missed the entire 1946/47 Test series against England due to a thumb injury. This allowed young New South Wales opener Arthur Morris to make his Test debut. Morris' performance in the series eventually displaced Brown from his position as a first-choice opening batsman alongside Barnes. The injury meant that Brown was unable to play a single match for Queensland.

Brown returned to first-class cricket in 1947/48, scoring 192 runs at 38.40 in the first three matches of the season. The season saw an Indian tour of Australia. The selectors initially dropped Barnes to pair Brown with Morris to open the batting. Apart from two Tests during the 1936/37 season against England, Brown had not played Test cricket on Australian soil.

Brown's participation in the series was overshadowed by his controversial run out by Indian left arm orthodox spinner Vinoo Mankad in the Second Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground in December 1947. Brown was run out for 18, when in the act of delivering the ball, Mankad held on to it and whipped the bails off at the non-striker's end. Brown was well out of his crease while he was backing-up the striker, so that he could get a head start in case he attempted a run. This was the second time during the season that Mankad had dismissed Brown in this fashion. The local press strongly accused Mankad of being unsportsmanlike. After this incident, if a batsman is given out this way, he is said to have been "Mankaded.”

Brown had done enough to be chosen to tour England in 1948 with the team that became known as the Invincibles, although Barnes and Morris were the first-choice opening combination. Brown made a strong start in the tour matches preceding the Tests. In the fifth fixture, which was against Cambridge University, Brown top-scored with 200 in an innings victory. In the following match against Essex, he combined with Bradman in a second-wicket partnership of 219 in 90 minutes, ending with 153 as Australia scored a world-record 721 runs in one day. Australia proceeded to another innings victory, and Brown completed his third century in as many innings with 108 against Oxford University. He proceeded to add a fourth century in less than three weeks, with 122 against Nottinghamshire, and made an unbeaten 81 against Hampshire.

Brown gained selection in the First Test at Trent Bridge, batting out of position in the middle order, whereas Harvey was dropped despite making a century in Australia's most recent Test against India. Brown made 17 in his only innings as Australia won by eight wickets. Between Tests, Brown scored 113 in a slow innings against Yorkshire to retain his middle-order position for the Second Test at Lord's. He ended with eight centuries and a total of 1,448 runs on the tour at an average of 57.92. Brown took 4/16 against the South of England in his only bowling assignment of the tour. It was his best career bowling figures, having amassed only six wickets in his first-class career.

Upon returning to Australia, Bradman retired and Barnes took a break from cricket, thereby opening two vacancies in the Test team. Brown had a reasonable domestic season in 1948/49 to press his claim for a Test recall. He scored 626 runs at 41.73, the sixth highest aggregate of the season, with a century and three fifties. Queensland won two and lost three games. Despite this, the 37-year-old Brown was not named in the touring party for the Test tour of South Africa in 1949/50.

With his opportunities diminishing, he retired after captaining the Australian Second XI to New Zealand on an end-of-season tour, during which the team went undefeated. Most of the matches were not first-class but Brown scored his final first-class century against Otago, scoring 184 in an innings victory.

Bob Brown was a Queensland selector from 1950–51 to 1959–60, and an Australian selector in 1952–53. His brief tenure as a national selector was marked by abuse and harassment from parochial Queenslanders, upset that he did not include his fellow statesmen in the Test team. Brown's sports store was vandalised and he resigned as a selector within a year. In 1992, Brown was elected a life member of the Queensland Cricket Association, and in 2000 was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his services to cricket.

Upon Bradman's death in February 2001, Brown became the oldest living Australian Test cricketer, greatly amused by the fame that came with the title. Highly regarded by Australian cricketers of the modern era, Steve Waugh invited Brown to present Test debutant Adam Gilchrist with his Baggy Green cap. The humble Brown was surprised, thinking himself an unworthy choice. Waugh disagreed, opining that "Bill is a baggy green icon who represents all that is good about playing for your country. He is humble, self-effacing and respectful, proud to have been afforded the honour of being an Australian Test cricketer, and a man who always looks for the positive in people." In March 2008, Brown died in Brisbane at the age of 95. He was the last surviving Invincible to have played Test cricket before World War II.