RIP Tom Maynard

The scarcely believable news that Tom Maynard, the 23 year old Surrey and England Lions batsmen, had passed away came on Monday morning. This was a young man not yet in his prime, who had a potentially massive future ahead of him, deprived of the chance to fulfil his potential and explore his talent.

Tom Maynard will be sorely missed

The circumstances are irrelevant and the facts don’t alter. The tragedy has occurred.

Here was a man in fine touch for Surrey this season. He had scored 525 runs at 40.38 in Division One of the County Championship, having been a key component in Surrey’s promotion in 2011. He was a fan favourite at the Oval thanks to his flamboyant style with the bat and committed fielding.

He was set to be at the heart of Surrey for at least the next 10 years. He would have been a part of the good times that look set to return to the county, as he was a part of the CB40 and promotion successes last year. He would probably have gone on to, like his father, represent England. He was certainly on the radar along with some of his young teammates at Surrey.

He was a likeable young man and it is frustrating and sad, as a cricket fan, that his obvious talent will never be fulfilled. He had started to show glimpses of what he was capable of, adding consistency and patience to his big hitting ways. We’ll never know if he had the talent and application to grace the biggest stages. That’s a crying shame.

It is upsetting that a young life has been so tragically cut short. Our thoughts are with the Maynard family as they come to terms with their loss.