Lieut. Kenneth Lotherington Hutchings (King's Liverpool Regiment, attached to Welsh Regiment) was killed in action during the first week in September. He was struck by a shell, death being instantaneous. Of all the cricketers who have fallen in the War he may fairly be described as the most famous.

Kenneth Lotherington Hutchings did not fulfil all the hopes formed of him, but at his best he was one of the most remarkable batsmen seen in this generation. Those who follow cricket will not need to be reminded of the sensation caused by his play in 1906--the year in which Kent, for the first time in modern days, came out as Champion County. To the triumph of the side no one contributed more than Hutchings. It is true that he fell a little below C. J. Burnup in the averages, but he played with amazing brilliancy, getting four 100's in county matches, and scoring 1,358 runs. His success astonished the public, but it was scarcely a surprise to those who had watched him from his school days. He had a great career at Tonbridge, being in the eleven for five years, and heading the batting for three seasons in succession. The first evidence of his ability in county cricket was given when, in 1903, he scored 106 for Kent against Somerset at Taunton. His batting in 1906 took him at once to the top of the tree, and on all hands he was regarded as an England cricketer. Unfortunately he never again reached quite the level of his great season. From time to time he did brilliant things, playing especially well in 1909 and 1910, but in 1912 he lost his form and dropped out of the Kent eleven.

In 1909 he was chosen twice for England against Australia, scoring nine at Manchester and 59 at the Oval. He paid one visit to Australia, being a member of the M.C.C.'s team in the winter of 1907-8. Taking the tour as a whole, he did not meet with the success expected, but at Melbourne, in the only Test match the Englishmen won, he played a very fine innings of 126. Hutchings was quite individual in his style of batting, recalling no predecessor. His driving power was tremendous, and when at his best he could score from good length balls wih wonderful facility. It was said in 1906 that when he played for Kent against Yorkshire, even George Hirst--most fearless of fieldsmen at mid-off--went back several yards for him, so terrific being the force of his hitting. Like most modern batsmen, Hutchings trusted for defence wholly to his back play. When he went forward it was always for the purpose of scoring. Playing the daring game that he did, he could only do himself full justice when physically very fit. His fielding was on a par with his batting. In the slips or in the deep field he was equally brilliant. He was born at Southborough, near Tunbridge Wells, on December 7, 1882.--S.H.P.

The following records of Hutchings' career speak for themselves:--

Tonbridge School

Year.	Inns.	Times not out	Most in an innings	Total Runs.	Average.
1898	11	2	41	185	20.55
1899	11	0	60	218	19.81
1900	15	2	127	743	57.15--1st. Made 127 v. Band of Brothers.
1901	13	2	101*	522	47.45--1st. Made 100 v. Free Foresters.
1902	12	2	205	633	63.30--1st. Made 205 v. West Kent, 178* v. Free Foresters, and 120 v. Old Cliftonians.

For Kent:--1st played for the County in 1902.

Year.	Innings	Times not out	Most in an innings	Total Runs.	Average
1902	2	0	10	11	5.50
1903	17	1	106	454	28.37
1903â€	6	1	16	48	9.60
1904	2	0	66	96	48.00
1905	4	0	31	87	21.75
1906‡	28	4	176	1,454	60.58
1907	31	2	109*	955	32.93
1908	36	0	132	953	26.47
1909‡	36	1	155	1,368	39.08
1910‡	36	2	144	1,461	42.97
1911	34	2	103*	938	29.31
1912	10	0	53	178	17.80
Totals	242	13	176	8,003	34.94
* Signifies not out. †American Tour. ‡ Champion County.

Hundreds in first-class cricket

106	Kent v. Somerset, at Taunton	1903
125	Kent v. Middlesex, at Tonbridge	1906
131	Kent v. Yorkshire, at Sheffield	1906
176	Kent v. Lancashire, at Canterbury	1906
124	Kent v. Hampshire, at Bournemouth	1906
101	Kent v. Hampshire, at Tonbridge	1907
109	Kent v. Worcestershire, at Worcester	1907
109*
108	Kent v. Lancashire, at Canterbury	1907
126	England v. Australia, at Melbourne	1907-8
132	Kent v. Northamptonshire, at Gravesend	1908
102	Kent v. Derbyshire, at Derby	1908
120	Gentlemen v. Players, at Scarborough	1908
100	Kent v. Gloucestershire, at Catford	1909
155	Kent v. Somerset, at Gravesend	1909
116	Kent v. Hampshire, at Bournemouth	1909
104	Kent v. Northamptonshire, at Northampton	1910
112	Kent v. Derbyshire, at Derby	1910
109	Kent v. Leicestershire, at Tonbridge	1910
144	Kent v. Sussex, at Hastings	1910
114	M.C.C. & Ground v. Yorkshire, at Scarborough	1910
103*	Kent v. Hampshire, at Canterbury	1911
* Signifies not out.

Gentlemen v Players:--

1906	At Lord's	2 and 10	13 inns., 0 not out, 120 highest score, 339 total, 26.07 aver. (He made his 120 out of 164 in 100 mins.)
1906	Scarborough	36 and 14*
1908	Scarborough	3 and 120
1909	Oval	0 and 59
1909	Scarborough	11
1910	Scarborough	19 and 42
1911	Scarborough	18 and 5
* Also took 4 wickets for 15.

England v Australia:--

1907-8	At Sydney	42 and 17	12 inns., 0 not out, 126 highest score, 341 total, 28.41 aver.
1907-8	At Melbourne	126 and 39
1907-8	At Adelaide	23 and 0
1907-8	At Melbourne	8 and 3
1907-8	At Sydney	13 and 2
1909	At Manchester	9
1909	At Oval	59

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack

Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1907

• Boxing Day in Melbourne (part 1) (Dec 26, 2002)
  
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Mar 7, 2005 Kenneth Hutchings © Cricinfo Ltd

Kenneth Hutchings © Cricinfo Ltd

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