No one knows where Louis “Loopy” Hutton came from, or where he has gone since. Loopy Lou (for his bowling action not because he is a bit nuts in the head) turned up toward the end of the 2016 season and asked if we was hiring. Woodham Mortimer, a bit like the child catcher out of chitty chitty bang bang (great film) as of late, snatched the youngster up before he could only tell us he is a bowler. And when I say he is only a bowler I mean that in-between jumping over the ball and getting bowled there’s not much else to Loopy. Except for that lovely head of hair. Head & Shoulders does indeed work wonders. You might as well just poke a stick out of the ground instead of a fielder and hope the ball gets stopped by it – the stick surely isn’t going to jump out of the way. For a while we all thought he was related to our very own Jack Preston and that they had been separated at birth in unusual circumstances as JP too runs away from the ball. Can you imagine the pair of them at mid-on and mid off. God help a batsman who likes a straight drive.
Of course I jest. Loopy isn’t that bad, come see for yourself, whenever he is here mind you. He is a bit like that Dianna Ross song, or was it Whitney Houston? ‘She’s like the wind’ – It doesn’t matter, we’re getting off topic anyway. Whenever Loopy has played he has shown great promise. I remember standing at slip in a game against Rayleigh Fairview earlier this year and him single-handled winning the game for us with his fantastic leg-spin. I mean there hasn’t been a better leg spinner at this club since the days of Sir Jonny Woodrow – and don’t tell me Gav Cook is one because he might as well be chucking grenades. Loo is also a keen advocate of the reverse sweep/dilshan/paddle shot – whatever you want to call it. It gets off the square and that’s all that counts. A very good addition to the ever-growing number of youngsters and Woodham and someone that will surely make a difference with both his impressive leg spin and good bantering’s. And that lovely head of hair. That reminds me I need to go buy some conditioner.