Famous Cricketers No 65 - Len Hutton

428. Players v Gentlemen, Scarborough, September 6, 8, 9 (Match drawn) run out 99 321-7d 270 2 not out 27 202-5d 252-8 429. T.N.Pearce’s XI v Indians, Scarborough, September 10, 11, 12 (Match drawn) lbw b D.G.Phadkar 5 68 258 1 lbw b Ghulam Ahmed 15 116-7 SEASON’S AVERAGES Batting and Fielding M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct Test matches 4 6 1 399 150 79.80 2 1 3 Players 2 4 1 192 99 64.00 - 2 7 County Championship 17 26 1 1482 189 59.28 7 6 16 Other Yorkshire matches 4 7 0 474 137 67.71 2 3 4 Other matches 1 2 0 20 15 10.00 - - 1 Season 28 45 3 2567 189 61.11 11 12 31 Career 429 682 79 34204 364 56.72 114 149 363 Bowling O M R W BB Ave 5i 10m County Championship(6-ball) 10 1 43 1 1-37 43.00 - - Career (6-ball) 1234.5 244 } 4196 172 6-76 28.58 4 1 (8-ball) 264.7 40 1953 This was one of Len Hutton’s most memorable seasons as at the Oval, a ground which had seen so many of his triumphs, he led England to victory against Australia and so recovered the Ashes which had been in the visitors’ keeping since 1934. His own part in this triumph was immense. Just as in the previous series with Australia in 1950/51, he was the leading batsman on either side with the highest average and the highest aggregate of runs – over 200 more than the next Englishman. His greatest innings was his 145 at Lord’s in what was to prove to be one of cricket’s most exciting Tests. His classical stroke-play was seen at its best and when he was dismissed he had scored exactly 2,000 Test runs against Australia. Suffering badly from fibrositis, he had earlier dropped three catches and so was determined to make up for these misses. He failed with the bat in one Test only, which was ironically at Headingley, when in front of an expectant full house he was bowled second ball of the match by his great adversary, Ray Lindwall. Unfortunately, Don Kenyon, a prolific scorer in county cricket, could not provide the necessary runs as Hutton’s opening partner in the first two Tests and the veteran Bill Edrich was recalled for the final three to help provide some stability at the start of the innings which helped to ease his burden as captain and major batsman. The Leeds Test provided some controversy concerning his tactics as captain. Australia required 177 to win in just under two hours when the fourth innings began. Hutton made a positive response by opening with the slow left-arm spin of Tony Lock, believing that there might have been some assistance for him in the pitch, but aggressive stroke-play by Neil Harvey and Graeme Hole meant that Australia were well on target with 66 required in the last forty-five minutes. At this stage, with Lock and Laker going for over a run a ball, the captain called upon Trevor Bailey to bowl off a long run outside the leg stump with no slip. These tactics saved England, but there was much discussion of the issue: is a captain entitled to do anything within the laws to avoid defeat once the chance of victory has gone, or was this contrary to the ethics of the game? Would Australia have done exactly the same if the situation had been reversed? It is interesting to think that nowadays there would be little argument, as the ultimate sin is to lose. After four drawn games, the scene moved to the Oval where Hutton’s batting – his 82 in the first innings was the highest score of the match – and captaincy received the highest accolades. His shrewdness in field placing and crucial bowling changes was central to England’s success. He had lost the toss in every Test, but he had recovered the Ashes. He took some time to persuade the 53