the sad passing away of Tom Maynard at young age

Yesterday at Lords, West Indies lost the ODI no. 3278, despite the return of Chris Gayle – the players observed silence before the commencement of the match. The players held a one minute silence before the start of play and wore black armbands as a mark of respect.

photo courtesy : cricinfo.com

When India toured England in 1996, Matthew Maynard played against us in two One dayers.  He had set a host of records becoming the youngest ever Glamorgan player to score 1000 runs  He toured South Africa with Mike Gatting's rebel side. Maynard's quick-scoring talent was  a key feature behind Glamorgan's success in one-day cricket in the 1990's- now his family is gloomy following the death of his son - Tom Maynard whose death  is written as robbing  cricket in England and Wales of one of its finest batting talents.

In a bizarre incident, a Youngman was pulled up by Police while driving erratically.  The man abandoned his black Mercedes,  ran off on foot, leaving his BlackBerry and other personal items behind. Worshippers at a nearby mosque said the two officers did not give chase, but radioed details of the incident to their control room. Colleagues arrived with sniffer dogs and began searching gardens.

Tom Maynard, the Surrey and England Lions batsman, has died aged 23, the club and the Metropolitan Police have confirmed. Maynard's body was found dead on the rails near Wimbledon Park tube station in south London around dawn.  A Metropolitan Police statement said: "At approx 4.15am on Monday, 18^th June 2012, officers stopped a vehicle after it was seen being driven erratically in Arthur Road, SW19. The male driver of the vehicle - a black Mercedes C250 - made off on foot. Officers were unable to locate the man. At approx 5.10am the body of a man fitting the same description was found on tracks near Wimbledon Park station." The incident is currently being treated as non-suspicious." It is believed that the driver on an early morning District Line train alerted the authorities after he witnessed a body on the track but was unable to stop.

The news was broken to shocked England players as they arrived at Maynard's home ground of The Oval, where the flags were flying at half-mast ahead of the second ODI against West Indies on Tuesday.

Tom Maynard was regarded as one of the brightest talents in the game, a destructive middle-order batsman who was perfectly suited to Surrey's enterprising style of cricket. He had played in Surrey's FLt20 defeat by Kent at Beckenham on Sunday.It was claimed he was driving to see his girlfriend when police apparently stopped his car Police are probing the possibility that he was killed attempting to cross a live rail line. They are also investigating whether was killed as he tried to cross a live rail line and was already dead or dying when struck by the train. There are also  concerns that Tom Maynard, 23, was suspected of drink-driving.

In an unconnected incident, last week reportedly Maynard was disciplined by Surrey for being out late during a championship match against Sussex but he returned to their side for the Twenty20 game at Beckenham against Kent.   British Press are trying to relate the tragic death with the earlier ones of Ben Hollioake in an car accident in Australia and to another incident earlier

Born in 1989, Tom Maynard made his debut for Glamorgan U17 in 2004, in 2010 captained a Glamorgan team that included his father Matthew.  Was blooming well and was considered to be prodigious with his talent as he had an incredible start to his career and was thought to be destined for far greater things until death has cut his career short now. 

Elsewhere on an unconnected incident, there was desperate battle to save a nine-year-old boy's life after he was crushed by a falling tree during a training session at a cricket ground.  It was a ghastly incident at Spencer Cricket Club in Earlsfield, west London where a tree uprooted by gale winds,  fell on three boys.  The three injured friends – Aidan Oakley, Lewis Gaston and George Roberts – were among 50 boys waiting in line to practise their bowling at the Spencer Cricket Club when a huge lime tree was blown on to them on Saturday afternoon.  Aidan, who was trapped underneath the trunk, was released from hospital yesterday while Lewis and George were being closely monitored. Their condition was said to be improving.  England cricketers Stuart Broad,  and Andrew Flintoff reached out to the three boys, sending messages and signed shirts. It supposedly was a healthy tree but if wind catches in a particular way, even a healthy one can be blown over. 

So what caused the chase and why the big hitting batsman capable to bigger chases was running remains a mystery unresolved now. Sometimes fate cruelly snatches people when they look set for bigger fame……. – that is destiny

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.

20^th June 2012.