THE wife of an England cricket legend “never recovered” after seeing her husband tragically die in a flat fire in Westcliff.

Greta Bailey, the wife of Trevor Bailey who played 61 tests for his country, has died in her sleep at the Elizabeth House care home in Hadleigh at the age of 86.

She had been staying at the home after the flat she lived in with her husband of 62 years in Crowstone Road was burnt down after a kitchen fire on February 10, 2011, killing Mr Bailey.

Their daughter Sharon Rawlingson said her mother never got over the death.

Mrs Rawlingson said: “She didn’t ever really recover from what happened to dad.

“She went into residential care after the fire and she just slowly declined in there.

“It was very sad for her as they had been married for 62 years and the pair of them were so good together.

“I think she hadn’t been wanting to carry on for a while, she just wanted to be back with Trevor again.”

Mrs Rawlingson, who has two brothers, thanked all the staff at the care home where Mrs Bailey had been residing after the incident.

She said her mum was a lovely woman who was really fun to be around.

Mrs Rawlingson added: “Mum really was the life and soul of the party and she had a great sense of humour.

“On top of that, mum and dad were absolutely devoted to each other and they had a great social life, so they did have a really good time together.”

Mrs Bailey died on December 29. Her funeral took place at Pitsea and Basildon Crematorium on Friday.

Trevor Bailey grew up in Westcliff and went on to represent Essex County Cricket Club between 1946 and 1967.

He made his test match debut for England against New Zealand at Headingley, Leeds, in 1949.

Bailey was considered to be one of the best all-rounders in cricket and went on to score one century and ten fifties for England while also taking 132 wickets with his fast-medium bowling.