Famous Cricketers No 65 - Len Hutton

His leadership in turning round the series, his diplomacy in so many difficult situations and his wonderful batting led to great tributes from the majority of the press and from his senior colleagues. Surely, he had shown that the matter of amateur or professional was irrelevant and that the best man should be the leader! It is true to say that he had convinced the vast majority of cricket followers that he was the man for the job, yet there was still a small, but influential, group who hankered after an amateur leader. As well as the great fightback in the Test series, this MCC side was the first one to defeat all of the colonies. The captain’s personal performance was again outstanding with an average in the Tests of just under 100 and 263 more runs than the next England player. He was also well ahead in the overall tour averages. The strain of being the side’s major batsman and being the captain on such a demanding tour was beginning to take its toll. As he said himself: “The West Indies tour of 1954 left me physically and mentally drained.” The stress of this tour led to the decline of his health, strength and zest for the game and, except on rare occasions, his mastery at the crease. Although there was a great triumph to come as captain in Australia, it would appear that the seeds were sown for what some would say was his premature retirement. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 457. MCC v Jamaica, Sabina Park, Kingston, January 2, 3, 5, 6 (MCC won by an innings and 21 runs) c J.K.Holt b R.G.Scarlett 41 457-7d 266 1 170 1 458. ENGLAND v WEST INDIES, Sabina Park, Kingston, January 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21 (West Indies won by 140 runs) b A.L.Valentine 24 170 417 lbw b G.E.Gomez 56 316 209-6d 459. MCC v Barbados, Bridgetown, January 29, 30, February 1, 2, 3 (MCC won by one wicket) not out 59 373 389 b D.St E.Atkinson 3 196-9 179 460. ENGLAND v WEST INDIES, Bridgetown, February 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 (West Indies won by 181 runs) c S.Ramadhin b A.L.Valentine 72 181 383 1 c F.M.M.Worrell b SRamadhin 77 313 292-2d 461. MCC v British Guiana, Georgetown, February 17, 18, 19, 20 (MCC won by an innings and 98 runs) c G.Gibbs b R Hector 0 607 262 247 462. ENGLAND v WEST INDIES, Georgetown, February 24, 25, 26, 27, March 1, 2 (England won by nine wickets) c F.M.M.Worrell b S.Ramadhin 169 435 251 did not bat - 75-1 256 463. ENGLAND v WEST INDIES, Port-of-Spain, March 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23 (Match drawn) c W.Ferguson b F.M.King 44 537 - - - - 681-8d not out 30 98-3 6 0 43 0 212-4d 464. ENGLAND v WEST INDIES, Sabina Park, Kingston, March 30, 31, April 1, 2, 3 (England won by nine wickets) c C.A.McWatt b C.L.Walcott 205 414 139 did not bat - 72-1 346 SEASON’S AVERAGES Batting and Fielding M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct Test matches 5 8 1 677 205 96.71 2 3 1 Other matches 3 4 1 103 59* 34.33 - 1 2 Tour 8 12 2 780 205 78.00 2 4 3 Career 464 738 86 37442 364 57.42 124 163 381 57