Following the Invincibles tour, Lindwall found the pitches in South Africa in 1949–50 less to his liking and was dropped for the final Test. He returned in the following season against England, regularly taking wickets in another series win. The following year, he played a major part in stopping the much vaunted West Indian batsmen, but he was criticised for his prolific use of short-pitched bowling. In 1952, Lindwall played in the Lancashire League in England, where he developed his inswinger. He returned to 1953 with an aging national team in decline and despite the loss of the Ashes, commentators felt that Lindwall was at his zenith in terms of his bowling craft. Upon returning to Australia, Lindwall moved north to Queensland due to work commitments and then suffered a season of injury and illness in 1954–55 which saw him perform poorly as England retained the Ashes easily. After a strong performance in the Caribbean, Lindwall missed half of the 1956 English tour with injury and was otherwise ineffective as Australia lost its third consecutive Ashes series. During the return trip to Australia, Lindwall captained Australia for the only time in a Test match against India in Mumbai, after injuries forced out regular captain Ian Johnson. Following the repeated defeats to England, the Australian selectors instituted generational change and gambled on a radical youth policy which saw Lindwall dropped for the 1957–58 tour of South Africa. Lindwall forced his way back into the Test team at 37 years of age in the following season, breaking Clarrie Grimmett's Australian Test record of 216 wickets. He retired from Test cricket after the tour of the Indian subcontinent in the following season, with a total of 228 Test wickets. In retirement, Lindwall mentored Test world-record holder Dennis Lillee and also served as a national selector.
