Surrey are mourning the loss of Virginia May, who died this week aged 91
As the daughter of one England captain and wife of another, it was no surprise that cricket played a leading part in the life of Virginia May.
Her father, Harold Gilligan, had led his country on their maiden tour of New Zealand in 1929-30, also captaining Sussex and then becoming a leading administrator off the field at Surrey – where he was treasurer – and MCC.
Virginia’s own sporting prowess was considerable, a distinguished showjumper who had been competing in the Badminton Horse Trials just a few days before her marriage to Peter May in April 1959. The Gilligans brought up their children in the area, so it was no surprise that the new Mr and Mrs May should decide to settle down in Cranleigh, in a house overlooking the Common – home of Cranleigh CC.
The extent of their joint fame was such that virtually the whole village was on parade for their wedding day, shops being decorated to celebrate the event and schools closed to provide car parking. Around 2,500 people lined the High Street to see the happy couple while the Police had to direct traffic. Some of England’s most famous cricketers attended – including Denis Compton, Colin Cowdrey, Trevor Bailey and Godfrey Evans – while the Bedser twins, colleagues at Surrey, were ushers.
The wedding was even staged on a Friday as so many guests were due to play cricket the next day.
It highlights just what a dominant role May had at the time, England captain since 1955 and the leading batsman in the world, yet the wheel of fortune had already turned against him. His team had travelled down under the previous winter tipped to win a fourth successive Ashes series only to be thrashed 4-0. And in the usual hunger to find reasons off the field rather than accept they had been outplayed on it, prurient elements of the media focused on Virginia spending several weeks on the tour with her husband to be.
Early in their married life, Peter suffered health problems which cut short his involvement in the 1959 English season and the following winter’s tour of West Indies before sidelining him for the whole of the following summer.
He returned during the Ashes series of 1961 but retired from Tests at the end of it and from regular first-class cricket 12 months later. As an amateur whose own family would grow to four daughters – inheriting their mother’s equestrian abilities – he had a living to make as an insurance broker and, as a very private man, little hunger for the limelight. The couple moved to Hampshire later on, May remaining involved in cricket off the field, most notably as chairman of the England selectors from 1982-88.
Peter died in December 1994, just before he was due to be Surrey’s president for a second time, his link with club and country celebrated by naming a stand after him at the Kia Oval. The Peter May Terrace was eventually replaced by the Peter May Stand in the ground’s redevelopment, Virginia performing the opening in 2016, while the Peter May Garden is an integral part of the SSE Stand at the ground he graced for so long.
