The Surfer

'Tom Maynard was destined for stardom'

Mike Selvey, writing in the Guardian , says that Tom Maynard, the Surrey and England Lions batsman, who died after being hit by a London Underground train on Monday, was a batsman of prodigious talent and prospect.

Carlyle Laurie
25-Feb-2013
Mike Selvey, writing in the Guardian, says that Tom Maynard, the Surrey and England Lions batsman, who died after being hit by a London Underground train on Monday, was a batsman of prodigious talent and prospect.
The genes to play a robust innings of flair were passed down for he was able to hit sixes with ease and scored at a lick, characterised by a 57 ball century against Northamptonshire in 2009, Glamorgan's fastest and one of two one-day hundreds he made for the county.
Surrey chairman Richard Thompson told Paul Newman in the Daily Mail that Maynard was destined for stardom.
‘Tom was a prodigiously talented young batsman who was clearly destined for greater things. The impact Tom made in such a short space of time for Surrey speaks for itself. To lose anybody at such a young age is an utterly senseless tragedy.’
Alec Stewart, writing for the BBC, says that Maynard was a quick learner and had the potential to play for England.
I remember meeting Tom a few years ago during a holiday in Dubai when he and his father Matt Maynard - a good friend of mine from our England days - happened to be staying at the same hotel. Tom must have been about 17, but he was putting in the hard yards in the gym. Even back then, he knew where he wanted to go and that may well have been to the very top. Tom was a very good trainer and a quick learner who did nothing by half-measures. It was all about getting the best out of what talent and ability he had been given.
Steve James, writing in the Daily Telegraph, says that Maynard's death means cricket has not only lost a special talent but a wonderfully likeable young man.
Tom was a special batting talent of modern-day muscularity. I have little doubt that he would have played for England, particularly in one-day cricket. Indeed I suspect that he might have been handed a debut in the one-day international against Scotland later this season. Despite his inexperience, he possessed a remarkably active and astute cricket brain.