Bowls a heavy ball, and also swings a heavy blade down the order, where his contributions have been telling to Team USA’s recent success.
Elmore is certainly one of the tallest players to have represented USA in recent years. Standing at nearly 200cms, or Six foot Six Inches, he can be an intimidating figure running into bowl to the opposition.
However anyone who knows Elmore understands that he is very much a ‘gentle giant’ and a hugely popular man on the field and off it.
Even back in those days he was a wicket-taking bowler first and foremost, but also capable of hitting some monster sixes down the order.
Everyone involved in cricket in the United States seemingly has an Elmore Hutchinson story. I will finish this article with mine – but for now here is a summary of his.
Elmore Hutchinson, born in Jamaica, is the ‘Gentle Giant’ of this U.S. team. He isn’t a particularly vocal person, but chooses instead to let his performances with bat and ball do the talking and as such commands a quiet respect in cricket circles across the entire country. Having been around the national squad for some years he is considered an elder statesman in the side and one of the most experienced on the international scene.
In 2004, Hutchinson moved to the United States, settling in Southern California where he began playing in the Southern California Cricket Association (SCCA). He initially played for Pegasus Cricket Club which was lead by former Bangladesh national player, Nazim Shirazi, a much loved and influential figure in Californian cricket. Hutchinson set about taking wickets by the bucket-load and began to be talked about as a future U.S. player.
In 2011, Hutchinson was selected to play on the United States team for the first time. By his own admission both his best batting and bowling performances to date came at the 2011/2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in UAE in the match against Ireland. He took figures of 3/22 in Ireland’s innings and top scored for the U.S. with 29 runs from number 9 in the batting order. He also performed admirably at #WCL4 in Los Angeles in 2016, finishing the tournament with the best economy rate for the team.
So now to my favorite Elmore Hutchinson moment. It happened during the final of the 2014 US Open T20 tournament in Ft Lauderdale, Florida. The final was contested between perennial powerhouse teams the AFT Gladiators and the US Lions. The AFT Gladiators batted first and out to the middle strode the two Canadian national players to open the batting in the form of Nikhil Dutta and Rizwan Cheema. What happened next was the stuff of legend.
Andre Brown opening the bowling for the US Lions was smoked for 5 sixes by Rizwan Cheema in the opening over! Elmore Hutchinson was opening the bowling for the Tigers at the other end. Nikhil Dutta worked his first ball away for a single and now he had the daunting task of bowling to a rampant Rizwan Cheema. Ball number two – SMACK – out of the park for Cheema’s 6th six and 4th in a row. To Hutchinson’s credit he only conceded one more single in his next 4 balls. The next over conceded 13, AFT Gladiators 51 without loss after 3 overs! Hutchinson conceded a boundary off the first ball of his next over, but only a single leg bye off his next 4. The final delivery of his 2nd over would be a huge moment in the context of the match. Somehow he managed to sneak through the defenses of the in form Cheema, rattling his stumps in a comprehensive manner and ending his innings of 49 off just 19 balls. He ended the innings with 1 for 13 from 3 overs. In the context of a team score of 162 for 8 it was a remarkable effort.
In the second innings the US Tigers were struggling at 102 for 6 in the 13th over before Elmore Hutchinson became the unlikely hero with the bat. He slammed 4 monstrous sixes on his way to 38 off 19 balls, including carting Canadian mystery spinner Nikhil Dutta for 2 sixes and a boundary in the penultimate over to essentially seal the victory for the US Tigers.
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