Richard Whiteley presents a programme dedicated solely to the cricketing great Sir Leonard Hutton. Richard talks to Sir Len in front of a studio audience containing leading cricket committee members and former Yorkshire cricket players. There is also some footage of Sir Len in action. Colourful graphics based on various views of stylised male and female heads in profile introduce the programme. Title: Calendar People A studio audience applauds as the programme begins. On the stage are two...

Richard Whiteley presents a programme dedicated solely to the cricketing great Sir Leonard Hutton. Richard talks to Sir Len in front of a studio audience containing leading cricket committee members and former Yorkshire cricket players. There is also some footage of Sir Len in action. Colourful graphics based on various views of stylised male and female heads in profile introduce the programme. Title: Calendar People A studio audience applauds as the programme begins. On the stage are two chairs in shadow. Richard Whiteley walks in front of the stage and welcomes the audience. He then welcomes the viewers as he speaks to the camera and introduces this new programme ‘Calendar People’. He points out the audience has fifty members of the Northern Cricket Society along with members of the Yorkshire cricket team of the 1950’s. A contemporary black and white still photograph shows the team as it looked back then. The television camera closes in on members of the team in the studio, along with members of the Yorkshire team from the 1960’s. Richard introduces his guest Sir Leonard Hutton as the audience applaud Richard steps up on the stage and sits in the chair opposite Sir Leonard. Richard establishes that Sir Leonard now lives near London having moved away from Yorkshire. Richard lists some of Sir Leonard’s achievements during his cricketing career. The list appears superimposed on a still photograph of a cricket ground possibly Headingly. Title: 810 Innings 129 Centuries 39,950 Runs 364 Highest Score 56 Average Applause follows as Richard mentions Sir Leonard’s recent appointment as a test selector. Richard also asks Sir Leonard as to how much contact he has with first class cricket currently. Title: Sir Leonard Hutton He says that having a career in first class cricket mean that you don’t really lose touch with the game. When going around the country he has had opportunities to spot new talent, but with his new role he will have to attend more matches, but he does have other people around the country looking out for new talented players. He points out some former team players by name who are in the studio who are already scouts for Sir Leonard, they include Norman Yardling and Vic Wilson. Title: Richard Whiteley Richard quizzes Sir Leonard about how and where he will be looking for new players. He says he will probably be looking anywhere but is confident in finding new players. Richard also asks if he has the time to do the job. Sir Leonard replies that despite commitments he hopes to manage it. He also says that cricketers are not particularly good watchers of other cricketers, and he puts himself in that category. So he feels he doesn’t need to watch all the games, referring presumably to others who can look for new players on his behalf. Richard moves on to talk about Sir Leonard’s early life in Pudsey. He admits in his words he ‘thrust myself’ on the cricketing authorities in Pudsey. A still black and white photograph shows the gates of the Pudsey St Lawrence cricket ground. Sir Leonard often went to games hoping that the home team might be a man short. A still colour photograph shows the cricket ground. He says his first real entry into the game was when he played for the Mayor of Pudsey’s 11 against the Bradford City Police. A player in the opposing Bradford team suggested that Sir Leonard showed promise at the sport. Richard Whiteley asks Sir Leonard how old he was when he played in the game. Sir Leonard describes himself as a rather tall eleven year old. He finally joined the Yorkshire team after being spotted by Richard Ingham a member of the Yorkshire cricket club committee. Richard Whiteley asks Sir Leonard how many runs he got in his first match for Yorkshire, the reluctant answer was none. Richard pursues the question this time for when Sir Leonard first played for England, he also scored no runs. Sir Leonard put the failures down to being nervous on his debut. In the next part of the programme Richard introduces some archive film showing Sir Leonard in various cricket matches. The first clip shows Sir Leonard’s recorded breaking innings at the Oval in 1938 when he scored 364 runs. Title: Test Match Continued The film shows Sir Leonard reaching a run count of three centuries, which elicits extreme excitement in the crowd watching the match. England declare at a record 903 runs. An interview follows with the 22 year old Len Hutton, in where he expresses his good fortune at beating Australian Don Bradman’s record. The studio audience applaud when the film clip finishes. Richard asks Sir Leonard how such an innings affected his life. Sir Leonard’s response is subdued, as he says he felt he had been lumbered with something, which at the young age of 22, was difficult for him. The expectation from fans was that he should be scoring centuries or double centuries each time he went out to bat. He personally believes as a cricketer you should be a good all-round player like Johnny Wardle, the programme picks out the player sitting with other team members. Richard Whitely asks him about his professional role as the England captain, and why he was picked for the job. Sir Leonard takes time to reply, saying that it’s a difficult question. He says he doesn’t know why he was picked as he had no ambitions to be captain. He also admitted that he didn’t particularly like the job, which was made difficult for the player because of its professional status. He points out the number of very successful captains who are guests in the studio. Richard asks one of the captains Norman Yardling as to whether he agrees with Sir Leonard that it is easier to be a captain if you are an amateur. Norman says he agrees to some extent, but he goes on to say that he was one of the selectors that picked Sir Leonard as England captain and he believes he was the right man for the job. As part of the evening’s tribute to Len Hutton a newsreel is shown from 1956 when he retired from first class cricket. Outside his house in Pudsey Sir Leonard, with his wife beside him, he speaks to the camera. He says that he is sad that he is retiring after 20 years but he has some good memories, and thanks fans for the kind support they have given him during his career. The film shows the match from 1953 with Sir Leonard batting, when England won back the Ashes from Australia for the first time in 19 years. After the winning stroke by Denis Compton, the fans run on to the pitch and swamp the team as they leave the field. Richard Whiteley introduces Tom Layler from Huddersfield who is in the audience and is a huge fan of Sir Leonard. Tom corrects one or two points made in the programme so far regarding Sir Leonards total number of runs in his career. Richard asks Sir Leonard a question about bowlers, and whether it is necessary to have good fast bowlers to win a match. Richard goes on to ask whether England’s current performance is much better due to the unavailability of two key fast bowlers in the Australian team. Referring to Denis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, Sir Leonard concedes that they are a ‘bit quick’ and that perhaps some of the cricketers may be a bit scared of facing bowlers who can deliver the ball so quickly. Sir Leonard admits that he did not like to face very fast bowlers. Richard asks Sir Leonard how often he sees Yorkshire play. He replies he watches them when they play in the south of the country, and he gets information from people involved with the club. Asked about the quality of play of the Yorkshire team, he feels that the club is going through a bad patch, and they need to recruit new players. Sir Leonard is keen that recruitment should be within the county and not imported. Richard opens that question to club members and the audience in the studio. One club member replies no to the question of importing players and a round of applause suggests this is still the popular view. Although Richard tries to find dissent in the audience, none is forthcoming. Ray Illingworth, who is not currently playing for Yorkshire still supports the ‘Yorkshire only’ view. Sir Leonard suggests that Yorkshire’s current performance can be turned round as long as the team spirit is good and that the players are enjoying their game. Richard Whiteley thanks his guest, the audience, and the Yorkshire team members as he closes the programme. Title: Calendar People Tonight Were Credits Sir Leonard Hutton Yorkshire Cricketers The Northern Cricket Society Introduced by Richard Whiteley Designer – David McDermott Director – Peter Jones Editor – John Wilford End Title - Yorkshire Television Colour Production