It’s moments like these that put sport into perspective. We’ve lost an unbelievable talent and more tragically we’ve lost a truly great man.
With all the success of his father, he could have quite easily clung onto his old man during his career; but that wasn’t Tom. Even at an early age he demonstrated the work ethic that made everyone who played with or against him take notice. He was destined to be a professional cricketer and he made his first class debut at just 18 years of age, testament to his character.
Despite being the best cricketer in the team by some way, he was undoubtedly a team man. Every time I played with him he was the hub of the team. Cricket is a game where cliques can quite easily be created, especially among teenagers; but this simply didn’t happen on his watch. Any newcomers were greeted like family by him and his enthusiasm was infectious.
Touring with him was an absolute pleasure as I got to know him as Tom Maynard the boy and not the cricketer and he was equally if not more talented as a socialite. We got into as much mischief as any 15 year olds would on tour, but when cricket came around; he was switched on.
At times, bowlers couldn’t bowl at him. In my last game with him at Cresselly he was at his devastating best notching up another ton in typical swashbuckling fashion against Pembrokeshire. It was a dream to bat with him and you could see the fear in the bowlers’ eyes when they were running into bowl. Not many players have that aura about them, but he certainly did. At the tea break, he was far more interested in discussing the shots of his team-mates than his own; further measure of the type of guy that he was.
He was the type of person that you were proud to be able to call a team-mate and even prouder to call him a mate. I’ve never come across anybody with a bad word to say about him, which is no real shock because he was an absolute gem of a bloke.
When we were playing together, there were a few boys in the team that you knew were going to make the step up to the professional game. Ben Wright was one, Mike O’Shea another and Tom was the other. Considering he was a year younger than all of us and still the best player in the team is quite outstanding and I’ve got no doubt that he would have gone on to play for England one day.
He is unquestionably the most talented player I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing with and I’m honoured to have been able to call him a friend. We’ve lost a remarkable individual but the feeling of emptiness and horror we have coursing through our veins is nothing compared to how Matt, Sue and Ceri will be feeling. My thoughts are with them as they try to find strength from somewhere. They’ve raised a thoroughly decent, likeable man and a breathtaking talent; they should be so proud of that.
We’ve had a top lad taken from us and Tommy, Mavis, Maynard; you’ll be sorely missed by us all. Sleep well, mate.
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