A Tribute To Tom
It came as a great shock to every cricket fan today, to hear that the very talented Surrey Batsmen, Tom Maynard, was sadly killed earlier today when he was hit by a tube train. As a big fan of the game of cricket and the respect I have for a player of his potential I want people to remember just how much Maynard achieved in just 5 years of professional cricket.
Maynard made his county cricket debut in June 2007 for Glamorgan against Gloucestershire and immediately made an impression scoring 71 on debut. In this one game you could sum up Maynard as a player. He hit 7 fours and 3 sixes exemplifying his destructive nature with the bat, his ability to maintain a good strike rate and the unselfish way he contributed to the teams performance. The high profile he established at Glamorgan attracted the attention of other counties as well as the England Lions.
After much speculation about which club would be lucky enough to sign Maynard, it was announced in 2011 that he would sign a three year deal with Surrey. The immense batting talent that has come out of Surrey over recent years promised to nurture the raw talent he had. Players like Greame Thorpe, Mark Ramprakash, Alec Stewart and more recently Rory Hamilton-Brown, prove how much batting talent came from this one club.
His highest first class score to date came against Worcestershire this year in May, when he scored 143 at New Road. The resilience he showed in this game after Surrey were asked to follow on is a testimony to his perseverance as a professional cricketer. It seemed that he was destined to achieve greatness at the highest level until the tragic news the broke out earlier today.
ECB Chairman Giles Clarke said: “Tom was a player of enormous potential who had already represented England Lions and had an exciting future ahead of him. Our hearts go out to the Maynard family for their tragic loss and we send them and all Tom’s many friends and colleagues within the game our deepest sympathies.”
As a Lancashire fan I cannot claim to have known Tom Maynard that well. However, even from his early days at Glamorgan, I felt he stood out as a highly talented individual. His move to Surrey in 2011 came as little surprise to me giving that he was an amazing batsmen and they tend to flourish at the Oval. I would certainly have considered him to be a future England player, due to his one-day potential.
So I hope that everybody who reads this takes the time to appreciate his talent and how the game of cricket stopped when it heard of his death.
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