Len Hutton captained the English cricket team in Australia in 1954–55, playing as England against Australia in the 1954–55 Ashes series and as the MCC in other matches on the tour. It was the first time that an England team had toured Australia under a professional captain since the 1880s. After losing the First Test by an innings, they beat Australia 3–1 and retained the Ashes. The combination of Frank Tyson, Brian Statham, Trevor Bailey, Johnny Wardle and Bob Appleyard made it one of the strongest bowling sides to tour Australia, and it was the only team of any nationality to defeat Australia at home between 1932–33 and 1970–71.
The England touring team
Management
The tour was managed by Geoffrey Howard, the popular secretary of Lancashire County Cricket Club who had been a wicketkeeper-batsman for the Private Banks XI in 1926–36 and had played three games for Middlesex. He was in the RAF during the Second World War and once hit a century before lunch playing for their cricket team. Howard had managed the MCC tour of India and Sri Lanka in 1951–52, and on a later tour would smooth things over when some players tipped water over umpire Idris Begh in Pakistan in 1955–56. "The 'Ger" ran a happy ship and even played in a couple of non-first class matches. He had been given no funds by the MCC (he was meant to return a profit) and had to take out an overdraft from an Australian bank until he could pay his way with gate receipts. When Len Hutton was stricken with fibrositis at the start of the Third Test, it was Howard and Duckworth who convinced him to play. George Duckworth had been England's wicketkeeper in the 1920s, but now managed the team's baggage and travel arrangements. He "was guide, philosopher and friend to all who had the sense to see the worth of his experience of cricket in Australia" and liaised with the press corps. One innovation was the appointment of Harold Dalton as the team physiotherapist. Previously the players had used local masseurs.
Captain
The selection of the MCC touring team was not without controversy. Len Hutton was the first professional England captain since Arthur Shrewsbury in 1876–77 other than as a temporary stop-gap. This break with tradition received much criticism from those who thought only a gentleman should hold this honour, but England had been heavily defeated by Australia in every series since the war, and even the West Indies in 1950. Hutton had been brought up in the hard school of Yorkshire cricket under George Hirst and Herbert Sutcliffe. Even so, he "...was a tactical genius, whose assistance was often sought..." by amateur captains, but in his day professionals were not trained as captains and the burden sat heavily on his shoulders.
He began well with a 3–0 victory over India in 1952 and regained the Ashes 1–0 in 1953. England pulled back from being 2–0 down to square a series in the West Indies in 1953–54 despite political interference, riots and dubious umpiring. England drew 1–1 with Pakistan in 1954, but Hutton was ill for two Tests and the Rev David Sheppard captained England. There was talk that the Sussex amateur should lead the MCC in Australia and New Zealand. Fortunately, wiser counsels prevailed and Hutton was confirmed as captain. Of the amateurs on tour Bill Edrich was an old comrade and had been a professional before the war, and the others – Reg Simpson, Trevor Bailey, Peter May and Colin Cowdrey – had been schoolboys when Hutton was making Test centuries. As a result, Hutton's right to the captaincy was not questioned, the team were happy to play under him and his conscientious vice-captain Peter May was particularly helpful. As a working class Yorkshireman he was not fully adept in social graces, and he gave his after-dinner speeches in "Pudsey English". When dealing with the press corps, Hutton used heavy silences and "developed the art when it suited him of delivering with much gravity Delphic utterances which his hearers could interpret however they pleased"