The curse of Surrey continues. First it was Graham Kersey on the first day of 1997, then 22 year-old Ben Hollioake five years later, both perishing in car crashes in Australia. And now the extremely talented Tom Maynard, who died in very unfortunate circumstances this morning. No doubt the sad sequence of events will emerge from the police over the coming days or weeks but for anyone to have their life extinguished on an electrified Tube line at dawn with nobody close must be especially tough for friends and family to bear.
Whatever the cause of death, cricket and Surrey CCC have lost an excellent prospect. Son of Glamorgan legend Matthew, Tom Maynard went to the same school in Cardiff, Whitchurch High, as Gareth Bale, Sam Warburton and cyclist Geraint Thomas, so there's some sporting pedigree there. He then proceeded to another top breeding ground for cricketers, Millfield School. However, instead of making the traditional path from that establishment to Somerset, he joined the county of his birth, Glamorgan, where Matthew had recently retired and become the Director of cricket. Curiously, father and son were to play together in a first-class match in 2010, 44 year-old Matthew as 'keeper, and young Tom as captain!
However, just as Maynard junior was starting to be a regular in the batting line-up, boardroom shenanigans led to Matthew departing, with Tom deciding his own position untenable. Surrey were quick to snap him up, and Maynard joined his former Millfield colleague, Rory Hamilton-Brown. His debut first-class hundred came inevitably against Glamorgan, and his forceful batting earned him a place in last winter's England Lions squad. Only last month, he struck the highest of his four centuries, 143, against Worcestershire and he no doubt would have bolstered Surrey's T20 campaign this summer.
By all accounts, he enjoyed the London high life and perhaps this proved to be his undoing. Nevertheless, it was Tom Maynard's on-pitch enjoyment which should be remembered. More than senior 5000 runs in his short career made him a contender for future honours in the full England side. But for the wealth of young batting talent at the moment (Bairstow, Buttler, Hales et al) he may already have won a place in the ODI side, so it is particularly poignant that the next one-day match against the Windies is scheduled to be played at his home ground of The Oval. Team-mate and England squad member Jade Dernbach has been given compassionate leave and it must be so hard for the rest of his Surrey colleagues to face the rest of the summer without him in the side. A terrible waste of talent.
