Hutchins heads to India to take his game to the next level

Coupled with Northern Rivers and Cricket Shepparton representative honours, the distinction of a Haisman Shield debut at 13 for Northerners and another A-grade cap for Old Students, the 16-year-old shapes as one of the league’s brightest prospects.

So, where do you go for some off-season development?

Hutchins settled on Bengaluru, 9,000km away, for a sojourn to cricket-mad India with the Cricket Mentoring program.

He joined a cohort of international cricketers at the Karnataka Institute of Cricket, where the language is nothing but bat and ball 24/7.

“It was a great life experience and something I’ll cherish forever,” Hutchins said.

“We started as soon as we got there — we trained six hours a day in about two sessions.

“We would start at 8am and go through to 11am, then we would go and see places around Bangalore.”

Then it was on to games, where despite some handy opposition in the form of the Karnataka bowling brigade, Hutchins showed he was a keen student by plundering a hard-fought century.

“There were 16 of us in a group and we played two games,” he said.

“They were pretty good. We had a couple of guys from the cricket institute fill in and they were skilful cricketers; they do about three sessions a day.

“It was a highly-skilled game and fun to play at such a level.”

It’s an experience the young top-order bat is hoping to translate into higher honours and when he’s not digging in for Old Students, he is hoping to put his foot forward in the next stage of the premier cricket set-up.

“I was fortunate to make the Dowling Shield side for Footscray,” Hutchins said.

“The first game was a big step, even in just training and how that’s run and the tactical side of things.

“Even in the lower grades in Melbourne, it’s competitive. It’s been a good experience.

“Hopefully, going forward, I can make the under-18 side in premier cricket and play as high a standard as I can.”