Peter May (cricketer)

He was described as a "tall and handsome with a batting style that was close to classical, and... the hero of a generation of school boys"[1][2] and by Wisden as a "schoolboy prodigy" who went on to become "one of England’s finest batsmen".

[3][4] He was made a CBE in 1981 and posthumously inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009 Born in Reading, Berkshire, he was educated at Leighton Park School, Charterhouse and Pembroke College, Cambridge, and at both he was regarded as a batting prodigy as well as playing Eton Fives, winning the Kinnaird Cup in all three years between 1951 and 1953, partnered by his brother, J.W.H.

He made his Test match debut against South Africa at Headingley in 1951, scoring 138, and was then a regular England player until forced out by illness in the early 1960s.

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.

[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.

May succeeded Alec Bedser as Chairman of the England cricket selectors in 1982 and held the post for seven years, including presiding over the notorious 1988 Summer of four captains.