Famous Cricketers No 65 - Len Hutton

Len Hutton - Introduction To be able to contribute in any way, however minor, to the account of Len Hutton’s career is a rare privilege. In common with thousands of others I was a devoted admirer of his wonderful batting skills. Nobody made batsmanship look so easy and no one surpassed him in grace and style. There have been batsmen who scored more runs, not many, and ones with a greater average, even fewer, but to watch him in action was to see a perfectionist, a master of his art who brought out the beauty of the game. His feet always seemed in the correct position, his body over the ball and his selection of stroke impeccable. Not physically very robust, his game depended entirely on timing, the cover drive a particular delight. Brought up on uncovered wickets his skill on wet pitches was particularly conspicuous where his ability to drop the ball harmlessly at his feet with close fielders hovering was uncanny. He was often accused of scoring too slowly but for his aficianados the sheer elegance of his batting was more than adequate as compensation. Len Hutton was my favourite cricketer when I first became obsessed with the game in 1945 at the age of 10 and he has remained so to this day, even though I last saw him play in 1957 in a game to mark the centenary of cricket at Old Trafford when he scored 76 and 25. Can a Life Member of Lancashire CCC be more even-handed than that? 4