page_title: Len Hutton
section_title: Early life
hierarchical_section_title: Len Hutton / Early life
caption_attribution_description: English: Fulneck Moravian Settlement - looking West, Pudsey, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.
context_page_description: Sir Leonard Hutton was an English cricketer who 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.
context_section_description: 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 (née Swithenbank). 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.
caption: Fulneck, where Hutton grew up
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