Peter May (cricketer)
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Peter Barker Howard May | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Batsman | 31 December 1929|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Test debut (cap 361) | 26 July 1951 v South Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last Test | 17 August 1961 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1950–1963 | Surrey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1950–1952 | Cambridge University | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 19 May 2019 |
Peter Barker Howard May
Described in his Wisden obituary as "tall and handsome with a batting style that was close to classical, and... the hero of a generation of school boys",[2] May was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1981, and posthumously inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009.[3] Wisden Cricketer's Almanack described May as a "schoolboy prodigy" who went on to become "one of England’s finest batsmen".[4]
Early career
Born in
Captaincy
May enjoyed a largely successful captaincy of both his county and country. Surrey had been County Champions for seven years running, with May the captain for the last two seasons, and until 1958 England was never defeated under his leadership. He had beaten South Africa 3–2 in 1955, considered by many to have been the most exciting Test series since the war, Australia 2–1 in 1956, the West Indies 3–0 in 1957 and New Zealand 4–0 in 1958. He was widely regarded as the best post-war batsman England produced, tall, strong and disciplined with a near-perfect technique, a straight bat and a complete range of strokes.[6][7][8] His standards improved with the responsibilities of captaincy and his Test average as captain was 54.03.[9] His highest score was at Edgbaston in 1957, when England trailed West Indies by 288 runs in the first innings; he made 285 not out,[10] the highest score by an England captain until Graham Gooch's 333 in 1990,[11] adding 411 with Colin Cowdrey (154) – still an England record for any wicket – and destroyed the mesmerising hold the spinner Sonny Ramadhin had over English batsmen. In the low scoring Ashes series of 1956 he had made 453 runs (90.60) and was out only once for less than 50, when he made 43. Although himself a highly educated amateur and a gentleman he realised that the old class divisions in English cricket were breaking down and under Len Hutton's leadership the amateur and professional had merged. He enjoyed the complete loyalty of the team and the selectors and was ready to help his players and smooth down feathers.[12] As a captain he was a strict team disciplinarian who expected high standards, he was ruthless when the occasion demanded, but could be inflexible and unimaginative and lacked the charisma of a natural leader.[7][8][13] In 1958–59 he played too defensively and surrendered the initiative too readily to Richie Benaud and he concentrated on saving runs instead of trying to get batsmen out. Faced with Ian Meckiff's questionable bowling, in the disastrous First Test, he declined to make an official complaint as he believed it would appear unsporting. Meckiff was, in fact, several years later, called for an illegal bowling action, ending his career. After the Australian tour May beat New Zealand 1–0, India 5–0 and led England to its first series victory in the West Indies 1–0. He lost 2–1 to the 1961 Australians and retired due to ill-health having been captain in a then record 41 Tests (20 wins, 10 defeats and 11 draws), Benaud being the only man to defeat him in a Test series. He retired entirely from first-class cricket in 1963, taking up a post in the City[5] with the insurance brokerage Willis Faber Dumas; now Willis Group.
Cricket administrator
May succeeded
Personal life
May served his National Service in the Writer branch of the Royal Navy.[14] He married Virginia Gilligan, a daughter of the former England captain Harold Gilligan, in 1959; they had four daughters.
May died at Liphook, Hampshire, from a brain tumour on 27 December 1994, four days before what would have been his 65th birthday. A stand at The Oval is named in his honour.
References
- Wisden Almanack. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
- ESPN Cricinfo.
- ^ "ICC and FICA launch Cricket Hall of Fame". ESPNcricinfo. 2 January 2009. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
- ^ "The Story Of Peter May's Glorious Ascent – Almanack". Wisden. 31 December 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
- ^ ISBN 1-869833-21-X.
- ^ p72, Bailey, etc…
- ^ a b p175-77, Arlott
- ^ a b p53-54, Graveney and Giller
- ^ "Statsguru - PBH May - Tests - Career summary". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
- ^ "The Home of CricketArchive".
- ^ "The Home of CricketArchive".
- ^ p219-220, Trueman
- ^ p128, Brown
- ^ Woodcock, John (4 August 1988). "The natural selector - Peter May". The Times. Retrieved 22 March 2024 – via Newsbank.
Bibliography
- Lodge, Derek. P.B.H. May C.B.E.-His Record Innings-by-Innings. Famous Cricketers. Vol. 25. The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians.