Famous Cricketers No 65 - Len Hutton

Bowling O M R W BB Ave 5i 10m Championship 37 9 106 6 4-40 17.66 - - Other Yorkshire matches 21 2 67 3 2-26 22.33 - - Season (6-ball) 58 11 173 9 4-40 19.22 - - Career (6-ball) 940.5 184 } 3853 143 6-76 26.94 4 1 (8-ball) 244.7 39 1946/47 – MCC in Australia The first “Ashes” series after the war was looked forward to with eager anticipation in both England and Australia but, just as was the case in 1920/21 after the First World War, English cricket had not really recovered sufficiently for such a major undertaking. Australia, on the other hand, had some fine cricketers waiting for their chance. On the surface England had potentially a very fine batting line-up with such players as the captain, Walter Hammond, making his fourth tour there, Len Hutton, Denis Compton, Cyril Washbrook, Bill Edrich and Joe Hardstaff to call upon. Moreover, nobody knew at the start of the tour whether the great Don Bradman would be fit enough to take his place in the home side. England’s bowling, however, did not really inspire confidence with the exception of Alec Bedser, who had just had a wonderful debut series against India, and the enigmatic Doug Wright. Len Hutton was 30 when he went on his first trip to Australia, but under normal circumstances one could reasonably be assured he would have toured there twice, in 1940/41 and 1944/45, by this stage. The tour began very well for Hutton who played substantial innings against most of the states prior to the first Test. The Brisbane Telegraph called him “the greatest batsman in the world” after seeing him score a “mere” 42 His 97 run out v New South Wales was described as “a delightful exhibition” by a Sydney newspaper, whilst his 151* in the Victoria game at Melbourne led the local press to draw attention to his masterful technique on less than perfect pitches: “At one end the pitch was badly worn, yet the Yorkshireman never faltered.” The Test series began disastrously for England, for after Australia had made a huge score on a perfect wicket, including 187 by Bradman who was thought to have been caught at 28 by Ikin, Brisbane’s notorious thunderstorms struck, leaving England to bat in impossible conditions. At Sydney Australia again made a massive score after a mediocre 255 by England, but the visitors’ second innings was made memorable by an innings by Hutton of modest proportions for such a high-scoring batsman, but one rich in stoke-play of the very highest order. His 37 in 24 minutes had all the writers searching for superlatives. Former Australian captains Victor Richardson and Herbie Collins were rapturous in their praise and his own county captain, Brian Sellers, who had seen him play so many memorable innings, wrote in his newspaper that it was the greatest display of batsmanship he had ever seen him give. “Old men spoke of Victor Trumper” and there was universal regret from the partisan Australian crowd when he unluckily hit his wicket from the last ball before lunch. He rediscovered his Test form in the last two matches at Adelaide and Sydney. In the latter he scored his first Test century in Australia, but had to retire ill with tonsillitis and took no further part in the tour. His partnership with Cyril Washbrook began to acquire its legendary reputation during this series as in three consecutive innings they put on century opening partnerships and were seen as the longed-for successors of Hobbs and Sutcliffe. His batting in games outside the Tests had continued to enthrall critics and spectators alike, particularly at Adelaide and Sydney. “A glorious innings by Hutton.”; “…brilliant batting by Hutton and Compton.” were typical press comments in the State games. The Adelaide public saw him score never less than 76 in five innings with the “Hill” supporters able to see 407 runs in five completed innings, one of which was a run-out. Although the tour was not a success as regards reclaiming the Ashes, with England being outplayed by their hosts, it enhanced the reputations of such as Hutton and Compton. Hutton topped the batting averages both in the Tests and for the tour as a whole and left Australians convinced that here was a 30