Hooton was born in Auckland, New Zealand,[1] and played his earliest top-class cricket matches for Waikato during the winter of 1968.
[7] These included figures a match against the Australian touring team in Napier on 2 March 1970, having been chosen for the New Zealand Under-23s.
Batting at three, Hooton failed to make a substantial impact, scoring six and five as Australia won by an innings and 20 runs.
[3][6] This final season was Hooton's most successful with the bat, scoring 233 runs at 29.12, including two fifties, one of which matches his career best 54.
[7] It was during this season that Hooton played his only List-A match, also for Auckland, where he scored 16 runs, however he did not bowl.