A cloud will hang over England’s one-day international against West Indies at the Oval after the death of Tom Maynard, a gifted young Surreybatsman well-known to many of those involved, who was found dead on the tracks of the District Line in south London after a police chase in the early hours of Monday.
Maynard, 23, whose father Matthew is a former England player and coach, played in a Twenty20 match against Kent in Beckenham on Sunday afternoon. Hours later, at about 4.15am, Metropolitan police officers stopped his black Mercedes in Wimbledon, south London, “after it was seen being driven erratically”.
According to a police statement, the driver – Maynard – fled, and was not seen again until 5.03am when he was pronounced dead at the scene, a tube driver having alerted the authorities to a body on the line. The incident has been reported to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, but is being treated as non-suspicious.
British Transport Police said: “BTP officers were called to the line near Wimbledon Park London Underground station on Monday, 18 June after a man was struck by a District line train. London Ambulance Service medics attended but the man, believed to be 23-years-old, was pronounced dead at the scene.
“The incident was reported to BTP at 5.03am and is currently being treated as non-suspicious.
“A file will be prepared for the coroner.”
Surrey and England players were stunned when the news was broken to them, in England’s case by team director Andy Flower before a practice session at the Oval, where the flag on the pavilion flew at half-mast. England squad member Jade Dernbach, who was a Surrey team-mate and a close friend, has been given the option of taking compassionate leave for the remaining two matches of the one-day series.
Surrey have postponed a Twenty20 match against Hampshire due for the Oval on Wednesday as a mark of respect. The one-day international will go ahead at their request, with both teams expected to wear black armbands and a minute’s silence to be held before the start.
“It’s an absolute tragedy,” said Hugh Morris, the managing director of the England and Wales Cricket Board who was a long-time team-mate of Matthew Maynard’s at Glamorgan.
“I’ve known Tom since he was a little boy. Our hearts go out to his parents, Matthew and Sue, and to all his friends and family. He was an incredibly talented cricketer and an incredibly likeable young man who had the world at his feet.”
Maynard was born in Cardiff and, after attending Millfield School in Somerset, followed his father’s path to Glamorgan, where as a swashbuckling strokeplayer he was inevitably regarded as a chip off the old block, Matthew having scored more than 20,000 runs for the county.
They even played together in a game against the local university team in May 2010, when Matthew was coach and came out of retirement at the age of 44. But at the end of that season both left Glamorgan, Tom signing for Surrey, where his Millfield contemporary Rory Hamilton-Brown had been appointed captain.
He scored more than 1,000 runs, including a maiden first-class century against Glamorgan, and earned selection for the England Lions team on a tour of Bangladesh earlier this year. “In many respects he played just like his old man did,” Morris added. “Matthew played for England, and Tom was very much on that pathway. He played for the Lions this winter and impressed all the coaches there.”
Richard Thompson, the Surrey chairman, described his death as “an utterly senseless tragedy”. It is the third to hit the Surrey club in 15 years, following the death of the wicketkeeper Graham Kersey in 1997 and Ben Hollioake, another highly gifted young cricketer who had played for England, at the age of 24 in March 2002, in each case after a car crash in Australia.
Several others in the game have also expressed their shock on Twitter. Mark Ramprakash, Maynard’s team-mate at Surrey, said: “Life can b so cruel! Tom Maynard – a really nice guy who was a pleasure to play with & will b really missed. RIP Tom.”
The former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff tweeted: “Tragic news that a great lad, Tom Maynard is no longer with us. All my thoughts are with his family at this awful time xx,” while the former England captain Michael Vaughan wrote: “Thoughts are with Matt Maynard and his family … Words can’t describe the terribly sad news that Tom Maynard has died aged 23 … #RIPTOM.”
Adam Hollioake, Ben’s elder brother and a former Surrey captain, wrote: “Wot is going on at Surrey? R we cursed or something? Graham Kersey, my bro, now this …”
Steve James, another former Glamorgan and England opener, added: “The lovely kid who was always in our Glamorgan dressing room grew into a man who would have played for England. How can he be gone so soon?”
By Andrew Wilson
Source: guardian.co.uk,