Maynard 'electrocuted' - pathologist

Tom Maynard, the Surrey and England Lions batsman, whose death shocked the cricketing world on Monday, was electrocuted before he was hit by a train on London underground, British Transport Police have confirmed.

An inquest was formally opened and adjourned at Westminster Coroner's Court on Friday morning. The circumstances of Maynard's death will be established later this year.

British Transport Police have appealed for information from residents in Wimbledon Park and confirmed that Maynard, 23, had been electrocuted by the live rail on the District Line before he was struck by a train shortly after 5am.

The initial results of a forensic post mortem, conducted by a Home Office pathologist have indicated that Maynard suffered burns as a result of coming into contact with the live rail as well as suffering multiple injuries from being hit by the train.

Police stopped Maynard in Ryford Road, next to Wimbledon mosque, after reporting that he was driving "erratically". Maynard then fled from the scene, leaving police and BTP officials anxious to discover information about a period of roughly 45 minutes between his escape and the report of the collision from the tube driver.

The funeral will be held on Wednesday, July 4 at Llandaff Cathedral at 12 noon with a service at Thornhill Crematorium at 1.15pm. This will be followed by a gathering at Pentyrch Rugby Club where friends are encouraged by the Maynard family to bring personal photos of Tom to compile a montage. All three events are open to the public.

Surrey will play their first match since Maynard's death on Friday night against Essex at Chelmsford. The county postponed the Twenty20 game against Hampshire that was scheduled for The Oval on Wednesday.

Rory Hamilton-Brown, Surrey's captain, who shared a house with Maynard, has been left out of the squad on compassionate grounds, leaving Gareth Batty to lead the team.

Chris Adams, the Surrey director of cricket, said: "It has obviously been an incredibly difficult few days for the club and the players but this game against the Essex Eagles is a step back into some sort of routine. Playing cricket is what we do and tonight will give the players a sense of normality in such a tragic situation."