​Harry May was arguably Fair Oak’s best known sportsman (and character) for half a century or more, having lived his entire life in Victena Road, where he was born 80 years ago and died recently in the self-same house, after a brave battle against cancer.
He was passionate and lived for his football and cricket, playing lead roles on and off the field for many years in both sports, a player competitive in the extreme no matter what sized ball it was, but always happy to have a beer afterwards. 
He was an uncompromising centre-half in the winter months and a fiery, often scary opening bowler with ball in hand in the summer.   
And all for Fair Oak, where he was secretary and organizer, a meticulous recorder and book-keeper, with Hampshire cricket memorabilia dating back to the 1920s among his vast collection.
He ran Fair Oak’s successful village Southampton Football League club, carrying out a similar role with the cricket team, who were among the original founder members of the Hampshire League back in 1973.  Talk about being Fair Oak through and through …
                                                                                       Competitive
Alongside that, Harry played darts and dominoes for the Acorn and Bishopstoke Social Clubs and was chairman of the East River Dominoes League.
His competitive nature was probably reflected in his day-time job at Pirelli-General in Eastleigh, where he worked for over 25 years as a fitter/turner and was a typically forceful shop steward and convener.
‘Once met, never forgotten’ was one comment made about Harry May, a towering presence of a man both physically and in football terms for Fair Oak, who were a force in Junior League soccer in the mid to late fifties, winning Junior 4 with a 100 per cent record in their first season and lifting the Senior 2 crown in 1958/59.
The following season Fair Oak were beaten 2-1 by Old Edwardians in the Southampton Senior Cup final at The Dell.
Local derbies with Eastleigh Boy’s Club were often X-certificate ‘high-spots’ of the season !
Fair Oak enjoyed marvelous success during Harry’s time as secretary.  They won the Southampton Premier League three times on the trot between 1992 and 1994.
They lifted the Reg Mathieson Trophy in 1993, but lost that year’s Senior Cup final, 1-0 to Colden Common in a replay at Follands, after a 1-1 draw at The Dell.
                                                                                         Shuffle

Once the cricket season arrived, Harry May switched to his whites and was at the forefront again – this time with a shiny red Dukes ball in his hand.
His long shoulder length hair draped down, he was economical in the extreme with his bowling run-up.  Two paces, often catching the batsman unawares. A two-foot shuffle, then over came the right-arm. Quicky.
It was probably just as well he didn’t run up too far because in those embryo days of 42-over Hampshire League cricket matches, there were no bowling restrictions – and Harry May, ‘supported’ by his father Alf as umpire, usually bowled 21 of them, in every match from early May to late August.
Let's allow Mike Brogan, Sarisbury Athletic’s captain and opening batsman in those days, to take up the story.
“Harry and Bill Cooper were a formidable bowling partnership and bowled in tandem for 42 overs, every other week at Bishopstoke. Often on a grassy green top.
“Harry was exceptionally quick and hostile, striking fear and terror into many a batsman, including yours truly. 
“Astonishingly, he bowled off just two paces and personally, I was paralysed by fear, such was his reputation. Harry was a tough, hard cricketer and he always gave me a severe examination. It should be remembered that I (and other batsmen) had just a cloth cap for protection! There were no helmets in those days.
                                                                             Big mistake !
“I still remember a game on Sarisbury Green. I had the audacity to attempt to hook Harry. Big mistake! I got a top edge and the ball hit me under the chin, knocking me senseless. Indeed, the next thing I remembered were the blue lights of the ambulance coming up Sarisbury Hill ! 
“Team-mates say 'I went down like John Wayne'.”
Away from his cricket, football, darts and dominoes, Harry loved Country & Western music and was an audience regular at the Ponderosa Club at Boarhunt, near Wickham.
He battled cancer in the latter years of his life, but that didn’t stop him watching cricket with his life-long pal and past Fair Oak team-mate Dave Burgess at Hursley Park, Sparsholt and St Cross and often further afield.
A bachelor, he lived in the same house in Victena Road, Fair Oak, all his life – bar annual cricket tours to the west country – and how sad it was one morning in April, when a neighbour noticed the milk hadn’t been collected from his doorstep and he was found dead at the foot of his staircase.   
There will be a coroner’s inquest in October but, at Harry’s request, there is no funeral.

THERE is no such thing as a friendly when the two old rivals of Island cricket, Shanklin and Ventnor go toe to toe — and so it proved in a match that went right to the wire when the pair met in a pre-season warm-up, writes Jon Moreno, sports editor of the IOW County Press.
In marvellous cricket weather on a fabulous Westhill playing surface, Ventnor won the toss and decided to bat — setting a competitive target of 244-6 from their 40 overs. 
Ross Whyte opened, scoring 82 off 60 balls, with Charlie Turpin supporting him well in the middle order with a half century off 77 balls. 
Shanklin & Godshill’s wickets were shared, led by Matt Lambourne’s 2-35 from his eight overs.
Shanklin got off to a poor start at 30-3 off the first eight overs, but recovered for the fourth wicket thanks to a great 114-run stand from Sean Phillips (46) and skipper, Benji White. 
White struck 61 off just 58 balls, with a good lower order contribution from Lambourne (29), but Shanklin’s wickets were nibbled away to leave them needing five off the final four nervy deliveries, with three wickets in hand. 
All looked rosy for the home side, but Whyte took two vital wickets to see Ventnor home with an amazing two-run victory.
It is a match played with a superb competitive edge, which well prove to be great preparation for the club’s league seasons ahead.
Afterwards, White said: “It was a very close and competitive game, on a good wicket at Westhill. Credit to the new volunteers who have done an excellent job on the ground.
“Despite the result, it was a nice start to the season’s preparations as we look towards our first County 2 league game against Oakley, at Westhill, on May 8.
Ventnor’s Southern Premier League Division 2 programme starts with a visit from much fancied Fair Oak on Saturday, when batsman/keeper Ben Woodhouse will take charge for the first time.

2020 All Wight triple winners Ryde opened with a 31-run win over Shanklin & Godshill, after posting 211-8 (Ash Goldsmith 57). Shanklin made 180-9 in reply, with half-centuries from Billington (58) and Jack Powell (50). Asher took 3-2.

Dan Wimble has been on song for Fareham & Crofton, who have warmed up positively for the upcoming Hampshire League season with consecutive wins over promoted Southern Premier League Division 3 opposition.
He thumped an unbeaten boundary strewn century to set up a 59-run victory over 2019 County 1 runners-up Hook & Newnham Basics II and followed it up with 72 as Fareham chased down Gosport Borough’s 227-7 to win by four wickets.
Wimble [pictured above] struck six maximums along with 11 fours in his undefeated 103 against Hook, sharing a 179-run opening stand with Tom Kent (61) as Fareham piled up 254-4 before dismissing Hook for 195 (Rhodes Franklin 72), James Headen taking 4-49.
Fareham’s openers partied again against Gosport, Kent scoring 76 and Wimble 72 as a 151-run stand got the Bath Lane side on course to topple Borough’s 227-7 (Denzel James 92).
Fareham were cruising at 209-2, but lost four wickets for five runs before Sam Stoddart’s 35 not out got them across the line.

Shanklin & Godshill and Ventnor cricketers will be able to enjoy the comforts of the completely revamped and refurbished Westhill clubhouse and pavilion when they renew long standing island rivalries in a 40-over pre-season warm-up on Saturday, 1pm.
The clubhouse and team room, alongside the changing rooms, showers and toilets, have all been upgraded this winter.
Ben White will skipper Shanklin & Godshill, while Ben Woodhouse will wear the captain's armband for Ventnor, having taken over from Ross Whyte.
Shanklin & Godshill: B White, Mills, Phillips, A White, H Moore, Lambourne, Read, N Moore, Wright, Ringer, Denness.

Bedhampton Mariners have pulled their first team out of Hampshire League Division 1, leaving the top flight with 17 clubs.
They were due to have launched their programme against Alton seconds at the Jubilee ground on May 8.
The Bidbury Mead-based club will now have just two senior men's sides moving forward as opposed to the three which had previously operated under their banner.
Chairman Chris Thomas decided to pull the 1st XI because of a decline in the calibre of players at the club.
The first team squad has been decimated by a number of departures since the summer of 2019.
As a result, and in approval with the Hampshire League, Bedhampton's former 2nd XI will become the first team and continue to play in the Division 4 South of the county pyramid.
Thomas explained: 'Unfortunately, due to major changes to our players and everything else, our first team and our first team strength has declined.
‘We took the decision, with the support of the Hampshire Cricket League, to withdraw our first team from the county one league this year.
                                                                                          Cripple
‘Over the past two or three years we’ve probably lost nearly the whole of our first team for many reasons.
‘Some have left, some have retired, some have decided not to continue playing whilst things are going on as they are.
'What we couldn’t do was stretch our resources and move everybody up from our second and third team into the appropriate higher leagues, because it would cripple the club.
‘It was better to try to regroup and make the hard decision.
‘It was a very difficult decision to make, but we felt it was the right thing for the club and its survival to allow us to regroup.'
As part of the Hampshire League agreement, Bedhampton's new first team cannot be promoted no matter where they finish in Division 4 South in 2021.
Thomas added: 'Unfortunately, when you look at the structure of our club, we’re stretched in terms of from the first team - which was in Hampshire One - to our now first team in 4 South. That’s three leagues difference and our third team is three leagues below them.
'When you’ve got that gulf of competitive cricket, you need the calibre of players to actually compete in there.
‘By keeping our second team as it is - we have a very competitive second team.
‘The league have applied some limitations on what we can achieve this season - our first team is not allowed to be promoted - but we accepted that as a punishment for withdrawing our first team.'

Hampshire League cricketers, especially those still surviving who played in the embryo years back in 1973 and a tad beyond, will be saddened by news of the passing of Fair Oak sporting stalwart Harry May, who was at the helm of both the football and cricket clubs in the village.
In the winter months, he was manager of the now defunct Fair Oak FC and, for many years, secretary of the cricket club, then based at Bishopstoke rec and now thriving in the Southern Premier and HCL.
For decades - and certainly until the HCL changed the rules - Harry and his partner Bill Cooper would bowl unchanged for 21 overs, making run scoring difficult opposition teams.
A real cricket enthusiast, he had been bravely battling cancer in recent years but that didn't prevent him from watching the game he loved so much.  He was often spotted sitting on the boundary at Hursley Park, Sparsholt and St Cross Symondians, doubtless remember the days when, long hair flapping in the breeze, he was still bowling those 21 overs ...