Famous Cricketers No 65 - Len Hutton

wickets when Hutton gave “yet another exhibition of his wonderful batsmanship on tricky turf.” Against spin or speed he was the complete master, unleashing a series of brilliant strokes. As Wisden said: “It was an innings to remember.” After having had the experience the previous summer of fathoming the mysteries of Ramadhin, he was now confronted with Australia’s discovery of a bowler of a similar genre, namely Jack Iverson whose only series this was. His 21 wickets at just over 15 runs each were a major factor in Australia’s win and he did in fact claim Hutton’s wicket twice in the series, but the Yorkshireman’s figures at the end of the series would show that here again he had mastered this new threat to his supremacy. In the fourth Test at Adelaide, less than six months after his epic innings at the Oval, he again carried his bat through the England innings for 156 out of a very poor score of only 272. “The poverty of England’s innings only served to illuminate Hutton … an innings which transcended all else in the match.” Wisden goes on to remark how easily he played bowling which to most of the others appeared almost unplayable. He was unfortunate to be out in the second innings when again batting with great confidence he was caught superbly by that great fielder Sam Loxton who had come on as substitute for Jack Iverson who was not renowned for his fielding. After a century in the next game at Melbourne with Victoria, the final Test of the series was played on that ground. At last, in the fifteenth Ashes Test after World War II, England managed to win, by eight wickets with two substantial innings by Hutton and how fitting it was that he should make the winning hit. Reg Simpson had made a wonderful 156* in the first innings and Alec Bedser had crowned a magnificent series with five wickets in each innings. It was ironic that England had the best batsman in the series, the best bowler in Bedser and the better wicket-keeper in Evans, but still lost by a convincing margin. The series confirmed his pre-eminence amongst the world’s batsmen and emphasised the shortcomings of the others in their failure to give him adequate support. Denis Compton had a disastrous series, scoring only 53 runs in seven completed innings, whilst the redoubtable Cyril Washbrook managed only 173 runs in ten innings. Both had shown good form in the State matches but could not reproduce this in the Tests where only Simpson and Brown gave reasonable assistance. The young batsmen were all found wanting when it came to the big occasion. John Kay, a highly respected journalist covering the tour, asserted that all Australia honoured him as the world’s greatest batsman, singling out particularly his second innings on the “impossible” Brisbane wicket. As he said, Hutton stood alone. He also proved to be an accurate prophet by forecasting that Hutton would be the first professional to be honoured with the England captaincy. He was said to be quietly disappointed at not being given the vice-captaincy on the tour which went to Compton, England’s other great batsman of the era; however, very sportingly he did not show any resentment, but said that he was not surprised as he understood how Compton’s personality made him so popular to all. The magnitude of his performance on this tour can be seen in his figures. His Test average of 88.83 was fifty higher than the next Englishman, Reg. Simpson, no other player reaching 30, and more than twice that of Australia’s leading batsman, Keith Miller. On the tour as a whole he headed comfortably both the averages and the total of runs scored. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 356. MCC v South Australia, Adelaide, October 27, 28, 30, 31 (MCC won by seven wickets) c G.R.A.Langley b R.N.Hiern 126 351-9d 350 1 c G.R.A.Langley b G.Noblet 1 186-3 185-3d 357. MCC v Victoria, Melbourne, November 3, 4, 6, 8 (Match drawn) lbw b I.W.Johnson 32 306-9d 331 1 c E.A.D.Kerr b W.A.Johnston 13 79-4 358. MCC v New South Wales, Sydney, November 10, 11, 13, 14 (Match drawn) b R.R.Lindwall 112 339 509-3d 1 c R.V.James b R.R.Lindwall 18 143-2 140-2d 46