It might be his double-barrelled name, his prominent cheekbones or the fact that he was handpicked to become - at 22 - Surrey's youngest captain for 138 years but life appeared too easy for Rory Hamilton-Brown. Then, however, the death of close friend Tom Maynard during the 2012 season provided the toughest period of his life.

A crisp-hitting middle-order batsman and steady offspin bowler Hamilton-Brown is a gifted cricketer has often been considered not far from international honours. However, an England spot now appears to been some way out of reach while he gets his cricket career back on track.

Hamilton-Brown had said captaining his boyhood county, Surrey, to the Championship title was as much an ambition as international selection at this stage but that chance passed him by after he left the county after the emotional 2012 season.

He was a controversial choice when Chris Adams, Surrey's coach, recruited him from Sussex to take charge. Faced with a dressing room packed with volatile and sceptical pros his first job was to win support. That he did with a steady first season and in 2011, Hamilton-Brown led Surrey to both the CB40 title and promotion to the first division.

That was enough to settle questions about his leadership. The captaincy did, by his own assessment, set his batting back a touch but he remains a positive strokemaker, ever keen to take the aggressive route. He blossomed as a limited-overs opener and was also starting to prosper in the middle-order in four-day cricket before tragic circumstances set him back.

Hamilton-Brown, another product of Millfield School, also played rugby union for Harlequins and England juniors. Cricket, though, his where his pedigree lies. His godfather is Dennis Amiss and Hamilton-Brown has been associated with Surrey throughout his formative years. He made his Second XI debut in 2004 as a 16-year-old, scoring 84 against Sussex. Sensing limited opportunities in a Surrey side that was packed with gnarled seniors, Hamilton-Brown moved to Sussex in 2008 where he grew under Adams' guidance.
ESPNcricinfo staff