Len Hutton
Sir Leonard Hutton was an English cricketer. He played as an opening batsman for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1934 to 1955 and for England in 79 Test matches between 1937 and 1955. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack described him as "one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket". He set a record in 1938 for the highest individual innings in a Test match in only his sixth Test appearance, scoring 364 runs against Australia, a milestone that stood for nearly 20 years. Following the Second World War, he was the mainstay of England's batting. In 1952, he became the first professional cricketer of the 20th century to captain England in Tests; under his captaincy England won the Ashes the following year for the first time in 19 years.
Marked out as a potential star from his teenage years, Hutton made his debut for Yorkshire in 1934 and quickly established himself at county level. By 1937, he was playing for England and when the war interrupted his career in 1939, critics regarded him as one of the leading batsmen in the country, and even the world. During the war, he received a serious injury to his arm while taking part in a commando training course. His arm never fully recovered, forcing him to alter his batting style. When cricket restarted, Hutton resumed his role as one of England's leading batsmen; by the time of England's tour to Australia in 1950–51, the team relied heavily on his batting and did so for the remainder of his career. As a batsman, Hutton was cautious and built his style on a sound defence. Although capable of attacking strokeplay, both Yorkshire and England depended on him, and awareness of this affected his style. Hutton remains statistically among the best batsmen to have played Test cricket.
Hutton captained the England Test team between 1952 and 1955, although his leadership was at times controversial. His cautious approach led critics to accuse him of negativity. Never comfortable in the role, Hutton felt that the former amateur players who administered and governed English cricket did not trust him. In 23 Tests as captain, he won eight Tests and lost four with the others drawn. Worn out by the mental and physical demands of his role, Hutton retired from regular first-class cricket during the 1955 season. Knighted for his contributions to cricket in 1956, he went on to be a Test selector, a journalist and broadcaster. He also worked as a representative for an engineering firm until retiring from the job in 1984. Hutton remained involved in cricket and became president of Yorkshire County Cricket Club in 1990. He died a few months afterwards in September 1990, aged 74.
Early life
Hutton was born on 23 June 1916 in the Moravian community of Fulneck, Pudsey, the youngest of five children to Henry Hutton and his wife Lily. Many of his family were local cricketers and Hutton soon became immersed in the sport, which he both played and read about with enthusiasm. He practised in the playground of Littlemoor Council School, which he attended from 1921 until 1930, and at Pudsey St Lawrence Cricket Club, which he joined as a junior. At the age of 12, he made his first appearance for Pudsey St Lawrence's second eleven and by 1929 had reached the first team. Locals encouraged him to meet the Yorkshire and England cricketer Herbert Sutcliffe, a neighbour, from whom Hutton received coaching in Sutcliffe's garden. Sutcliffe was impressed by the young batsman, and commended him to Yorkshire as a good prospect.Following this endorsement, Hutton went to the county's indoor practice shed at Headingley in February 1930. George Hirst, a former Yorkshire cricketer responsible for assessing and coaching young players, believed that Hutton's batting technique was essentially already complete. Bill Bowes, the Yorkshire pace bowler, was equally impressed, and helped Hutton to correct a minor flaw in his technique. Hutton was sufficiently encouraged to decide to attempt a career in professional cricket, but at the prompting of his parents decided to learn a trade as well. During 1930, he watched the Australian Don Bradman hit 334 at Headingley in a Test match, then a record individual score in Tests—which he himself would surpass eight years later. Later that year, Hutton enrolled at Pudsey Grammar School where he spent a year studying technical drawing and quantitative work before joining his father at a local building firm, Joseph Verity. After becoming a professional cricketer, Hutton continued to work for the company during winter months until 1939.
Career before the Second World War
First years with Yorkshire
By 1933, Hutton was regularly opening the batting for the Pudsey St Lawrence first team in the Bradford Cricket League. By close observation of his opening partner, the former Yorkshire county batsman Edgar Oldroyd, Hutton further developed his batting technique, especially in defence. The local press soon identified Hutton as a player of promise, particularly after he scored a match-winning 108 not out in the Priestley Cup. Senior figures within Yorkshire cricket identified him as a potential successor to Percy Holmes as an opening partner to Sutcliffe; at this stage in his career, Hutton was also considered a promising leg spin bowler. In the 1933 season Hutton was selected for the Yorkshire Second Eleven. Although he failed to score a run in either of his first two innings, over the season he scored 699 runs at an average of 69.90. Yorkshire appointed Cyril Turner as Hutton's mentor; Hedley Verity and Bowes also offered Hutton guidance in his early career.Hutton made his first-class debut for Yorkshire in 1934, at the age of 17 the youngest Yorkshire player since Hirst, 45 years earlier. In his first match, against Cambridge University, he was run out for a duck but scored an unbeaten 50 runs in his second match; he followed this with another half-century against Warwickshire on his County Championship debut. He played regularly for the rest of the season but to prevent his overexposure to Championship cricket, Yorkshire limited his appearances and returned him periodically to the second eleven. In matches for the first team, Hutton shared large first-wicket partnerships with Wilf Barber and with Arthur Mitchell, before scoring his maiden first-class century in an innings of 196 against Worcestershire. At the time, he was the youngest Yorkshire batsman to score a first-class century. He finished the season with a total of 863 runs at an average of 33.19;
An operation on his nose before the 1935 season delayed Hutton's appearance on the cricket field that year. Attempting to return too quickly, he endured poor health which limited his subsequent appearances and effectiveness; by the middle of August he had scored a total of just 73 runs. A century against Middlesex led to run of bigger scores, and his contribution to Yorkshire's County Championship victory that season was 577 runs at an average in first-class matches of 28.85. In the winter of 1935–36 Hutton went on his first overseas tour, as Yorkshire visited Jamaica. In the 1936 season he reached 1,000 runs in a season for the first time—1,282 runs at an average of 29.81—and was awarded his county cap in July. He took part in several large partnerships through the season, including one of 230 with Sutcliffe, although he experienced a sequence of low scores in May and June.
Throughout his first seasons, Hutton faced press criticism for his caution and reluctance to play attacking shots. Although regarding him a certain England selection in the future, critics thought Hutton slightly dull and pedestrian. Yorkshire remained unconcerned; cricket writer Alan Hill believes Hutton's subsequent success was built on this initial establishment of a defensive technique. His achievements brought limited recognition, owing to the high level of expectation surrounding him. This sense of frustration was heightened by comments from Sutcliffe in 1935, when he wrote that Hutton was "a certainty for a place as England's opening batsman. He is a marvel – the discovery of a generation... His technique is that of a maestro." Such praise was rare from Sutcliffe, but Hutton found the comments a burden, while others found them embarrassing.
Test match debut
After Hutton began 1937 with a series of high scores—including an innings of 271 against Derbyshire, the reigning County Champions, and 153 against Leicestershire two days later when he and Sutcliffe shared a 315-run opening partnership—he was chosen to play for England against New Zealand in the first Test match of the season. On 26 June, he made his Test debut at Lord's Cricket Ground, scoring 0 and 1. Retaining his place in the England team after scoring centuries for Yorkshire in the following games, he scored his maiden Test hundred on 24 July in the second Test at Old Trafford, Manchester. He batted for three-and-a-half hours to score exactly 100 runs and shared a century opening partnership with Charlie Barnett. Hutton's remaining two innings in the Test series yielded 14 and 12, giving him 127 runs at an average of 25.40. Also in 1937, Hutton made his first appearance for the Players against the Gentlemen at Lord's. In total that year he scored 2,888 runs, more than double his previous seasonal best, at an average of 56.62 and including ten centuries. He also recorded the best bowling performance of his career, six wickets for 76 against Leicestershire, altogether taking ten wickets in the match—the only time he achieved this. His performances that year earned him selection as one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year. The citation praised his attitude, technique, fielding and bowling, noting however that some commentators continued to criticise his overcaution.In early matches of the 1938 season, with an Ashes series against Australia pending, Hutton made three centuries and scored 93 not out. Selected for a Test trial, he shared a century opening partnership with Bill Edrich, and was selected for the first Test at Trent Bridge in Nottingham beginning on 28 June. In just over three hours, Hutton scored 100 from 221 deliveries on his Ashes debut, adding 219 with Charlie Barnett for the first wicket. England, in Wally Hammond's first match as Test captain, posted a total of 658 for eight wickets, but the match was drawn. Hutton failed in the second Test, with two single figure scores in another drawn game. He was generally unsuccessful with the bat in the following weeks, during which the third Test was entirely rained off. Following a sequence of low scores for Yorkshire, Hutton's finger was broken in a match against Middlesex played on a dangerous pitch at Lord's. Consequently, he could not play in the fourth Test, played at his home ground, Headingley, in which England were soundly beaten. After missing a month of cricket, Hutton played just two games before his selection for the final Test of the series.