[9] 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.

[16] In matches for the first team, Hutton shared large first-wicket partnerships with Wilf Barber[17] and with Arthur Mitchell, before scoring his maiden first-class century in an innings of 196 against Worcestershire.

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.

[3] Yorkshire remained unconcerned;[3][25] cricket writer Alan Hill believes Hutton's subsequent success was built on this initial establishment of a defensive technique.

[3][8][27] After Hutton began 1937 with a series of high scores[15]—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[28]—he was chosen to play for England against New Zealand in the first Test match of the season.

[43] Among views expressed by Test cricketers, Les Ames believed that while Hutton had shown great skill, a combination of a very easy wicket for batting and an unusually weak bowling attack presented an ideal opportunity.

By the summer, surgery and rest initially looked to have repaired the injury; Hutton returned to his unit and resumed cricket, scoring a century in one game.

[64] Hutton resumed professional cricket with Pudsey St Lawrence in 1943, briefly captaining the team before poor results and a disagreement with the committee led him to resign the captaincy.

[30] Press opinion was divided over Hutton's performance; some critics, including the Australian bowlers, detected insecurity against fast bowling, particularly the bouncers with which Ray Lindwall and Miller targeted him.

[75] Bill Bowes, covering the tour as a journalist, believed that Hutton was unable to master bowling faster than he had encountered for eight years, but acquitted himself reasonably well.

[84] Yorkshire dropped to equal seventh in the County Championship, affected by the retirement of key players and the frequent loss of Hutton to representative cricket.

In the second innings, England had to bat for a long time to save the game, Wisden noted that Hutton, in contrast to his opening partner Washbrook, looked "plainly uncomfortable".

[107] Hutton, who escaped most of the debate by playing in Scotland for Yorkshire,[108] found the situation unsettling and Patrick Murphy, a sports journalist, writes that it "served to drive a reserved man further in on himself.

[139] Wisden observed that he had "given yet another exhibition of his wonderful batsmanship on tricky turf ... Hutton thrashed the fast bowlers majestically and played the turning or lifting ball with the ease of a master craftsman.

[138] Hutton remained in the middle order for the second Test, which England lost by 28 runs,[140][141] but resumed his role as opener for the rest of the tour and scored a century in the following state game.

[140] Hutton scored 62 in the third Test, but the Australian spinner Jack Iverson, who caused the touring batsmen huge problems all series, bowled Australia to victory.

[172] Amid great public interest for the deciding fifth Test, Hutton lost his fifth successive toss but replying to Australia's first innings of 275, England established a narrow first-innings lead.

[173] Wisden praised Hutton's strategy and tactical sense,[173] and he was widely acclaimed in the press, particularly for the good spirit which he and Hassett, the Australian captain, maintained.

"[30][193] The innings ended amid another controversy when local officials and journalists accused Hutton of snubbing the congratulations of the Chief Minister Alexander Bustamante during a tea interval.

[197] According to Wisden editor Norman Preston, influential figures within the cricket hierarchy blamed Hutton for the previous winter's events and attempted to replace him as captain.

[198] Two former England cricketers, Errol Holmes and Walter Robins, the latter also a selector that year, favoured Sheppard over Hutton and persuaded him to offer his candidacy to captain the MCC in Australia that winter.

The home side scored 601, England dropped 12 catches and, with the key players Evans and Compton injured, lost by an innings; the press blamed Hutton for choosing to bowl.

[212] Hutton contributed few runs, but Cowdrey and Peter May made large scores and Tyson took seven wickets as Australia were bowled out for 111 in their second innings, giving England a 128-run victory.

[215] Wisden believed Hutton's tactics were instrumental in giving his team the upper hand,[216] and in the final innings, England needed 94 to win and retain the Ashes.

Many commentators viewed this as a sign that Hutton's reserve had slipped in the critical situation, but Alan Gibson believes it was a deliberate ploy to inspire Compton.

His caution was criticised, but the main complaint was that he deliberately slowed the speed of play, reducing the number of overs bowled, allowing the fast bowlers to rest and restricting the rate at which Australia scored.

[229][232] Cricket historian David Frith believes that "there was an apparent touch of genius about his batsmanship",[229] and Alan Gibson described Hutton's off drive as "the glory of the game.

"[155] One such innings was his score of 37 in the second Test of 1946–47 in which the attacking shots he played reminded older spectators of Victor Trumper, regarded as the ultimate Australian strokeplayer.

As captain, Hutton believed that the key to success was a strong pace attack, stemming from his experiences against Lindwall and Miller, which influenced his selection of several promising fast bowlers.

While captain, he was criticised for caution and negativity but also was expected to lead a successful team at a time when results began to assume a far greater importance than in previous years.