Tom Maynard RIP: He'll always be 23...

At the start of the season as we selected our County Championship XI to watch in 2012 we suggested that Tom Maynard was a good outside bet for England's squad to defend the World T20 trophy in Sri Lanka in September. Now we will tragically never know.

The circumstances surrounding his death are still shrouded in mystery, but it seems he was hit by a tube train after running away from police who had stopped his car in the early hours of the morning.

23 is no age to die. Like Ben Hollioake before him, we will never know now how good Maynard could have been and whether he could had the successful international career that his father Matthew so richly deserved.

Maynard hit over 1,000 runs in the championship at 40 in his debut year for Surrey last season after moving from Glamorgan to help his new side to promotion. He already had 525 at 40.38 this season including a phenomenally good hundred at New Road that nearly enabled Surrey to win after following on. But it was as a hard hitting ODI or T20 batsman and brilliant fielder that Maynard was likely to first break into the England side.

We heard Stereophonics 'Local Boy in the Photograph' on the radio this morning for the first time in ages. This was a couple of hours before the terrible news surfaced about Maynard, and it is his fellow Welshmen that perhaps have the most poignant words on this desperately sad day:

"He'll always be 23, yet the train runs on and on
And all the friends lay down the flowers
Sit on the banks and drink for hours
Talk of the way they saw him last
Local boy in the photograph
Today
He's gone away"

Rest in peace, young dragon.

Where next?

An XI of cricketers that tragically died young

County Championship Division 2 XI of 2011

Cricket Heroes: Graham Dilley R.I.P

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Comments

[Ian Graham]

Having a link to "xi of cricketers that died young" is pretty distasteful in my view

[The Reverse Sweep]

I'm sorry you think that Ian. That was the last thing I intended.

[Ian Graham]

Thanks for responding, I'm sure you didn't but it doesn't sit right with me in the immediate aftermath of this sort of incident.

[The Reverse Sweep]

I see the point, but it was only really included as it features Ben Hollioake - the awfulness of the tragedy of Maynard's untimely death is magnified in my view by the fact that Surrey have also lost Hollioake and Graham Kersey in recent years  

[Ian Graham]

I agree with you there

[greyblazer]

A huge loss for both Surrey and England. Just can't describe it in words when someone dies so young, RIP.