Famous Cricketers No 65 - Len Hutton

Test. Taking part in an opening partnership of 219 with Charlie Barnett, who narrowly missed a century before lunch on the first day, he impressed the critics with his temperament and sureness of touch. He failed in the second Test at Lord’s where everything else was eclipsed by double centuries from Hammond, at his most imperious, and Bill Brown of Australia, who had the added distinction of carrying his bat. Just over two weeks later he was back at Lord’s again for his county’s fixture with Middlesex, a game played on a poor pitch. As a consequence Hutton suffered a broken finger, Leyland a fractured thumb and Gibb was concussed. The next Test was due to be played at Headingley, the third one at Old Trafford having been completely washed out, but neither Hutton nor Gibb, whose debut it would have been, was fit to play on their home ground. In addition to missing the Test, Hutton was also unable to play in seven Yorkshire games. Although he had missed so many games and had had a run of poor scores starting with the Lord’s Test – 125 in ten innings – there was never any doubt that he would be selected for the final Test at Kennington Oval which was to be a timeless one. Fortunately Hammond won the toss and 13 hours 20 minutes later a rather tired Hutton was caught for the record Test score of 364 beating the two previous highest set by the opposing captains. The skill, stamina and concentration required for such an innings were enormous and it was felt that England had a batsman who would be able to match Bradman in the accumulation of high scores. Hutton himself, a very modest young man, was uneasy with comparisons of Hobbs and Bradman, as he had been with Sutcliffe’s earlier encomium. This monumental innings changed his life and never again could he enjoy complete privacy outside his family circle. Wisden described his innings thus: “No more remarkable exhibition of concentration and endurance has ever been seen on the cricket field than that of Leonard Hutton.” Even Wilfred Rhodes, whose opinion of the young Hedley Verity eight years earlier had been “Aye, he’ll do.”, was moved to say that he was already one of the greatest batsmen that the world had ever seen. The church bells in Pudsey marked his achievement with 364 changes and a special Dinner was arranged in the October at Pudsey Town Hall. He benefited materially with a gift of £1,000 from the same Australian businessman domiciled in Britain who had similarly marked Bradman’s 334 in 1930 and he was also asked to endorse many products. Only eight years previously he had, as a 14 year old, seen Bradman’s record Test score at Headingley and now he had eclipsed it. He finished the season with three games at Scarborough as a celebrity whom all wanted to see. His last game for H.D.G.Leveson Gower’s XI was memorable for a fine exhibition of batsmanship: “He was supreme in defence and stroke play, notably late-cutting. As a result of his injury at Lord’s in July he had played in ten fewer matches than in 1937 and had had twenty-one fewer innings; however, he finished with his best seasonal average to date and again finished third in the English batting averages to Hammond and, very narrowly, to Hardstaff. He now had his first major tour to look forward to with a trip to South Africa. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 106. Yorkshire v MCC, Lord’s, April 30, May 2, (3) (Match drawn) lbw b J.W.A.Stephenson 13 339 14 0 58 0 325 1 c C.R.Maxwell b C.I.J.Smith 13 21-1 107. Yorkshire v Cambridge University, Fenner’s, May 4, 5, 6 (Yorkshire won by an innings and 105 runs) c R.B.Bruce-Lockhart b J.V.Wild 180 540 12 3 36 1 N.W.D.Yardley b 264 2 0 7 0 171 108. Yorkshire v Oxford University, The Parks, May 7, 9, 10 (Match drawn) b D.H.Macindoe 141 420 19.3 6 38 4 E.D.R.Eagar b 231 D.H.Macindoe b H.G.Jelf c C.Turner R.F.H.Darwall-Smith c M.Leyland not out 13 39-0 38 9 92 2 H.G.Jelf c and b 344-8d 1 R.F.H.Darwall-Smith b 18