TOM A CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK


Like father like son, Tom Maynard is desperate to emulate the cricketing achievements of the old man, Matthew.


There is no doubt the potential is there for 21-year-old Tom to go on and be every bit as handy as his dad, who achieved pretty much all there is to do in the domestic game – he played for England at Test and one-day international level, enjoyed one-day success with Glamorgan in 1993 and led the Welsh club to the County Championship title in 1997.


And few will dispute Maynard junior has been passed on the family batting gene. Like Matthew, Glamorgan’s director, Tom is a hard-hitting middle order bladesman able to win a match on his own but also possessing the capability on the odd occasion to hit the self-destruct button.


There has been no better illustration of that this season than in the Friends Provident T20 Cup campaign: Maynard produced three stunning match-winning half centuries but also registered three ducks.


Good then that dad is his ‘boss’ at Glamorgan and plenty of advice can be handed on at either the breakfast table or in the nets.


“He's offered me heaps of advice. That's the advantage of my dad having been a player. If I've got a question I've always got my coach there to ask,” said Maynard junior.


“He Is a pretty relaxed bloke and easy to get on with, so I don’t really have any issues with him being my coach. The guys get on with him so it’s never awkward for me. It is nice to have him around a lot


issue12twothousand&ten sportingwales


and good to bounce ideas off when we are away from the game.


“I am enjoying the partnership and hopefully we can both help to take Glamorgan to success in the near future.”


Maynard, despite being impetuous at times, says he is determined to learn from others in developing his one-day game.


“I have learnt a lot from the way Kieron Pollard (the West Indies all rounder) bats for Somerset to be honest. He will defend the fi rst three or four balls and all he is concentrating on there is keeping his wicket,” said Maynard.


“He does not worry that he is not scoring because he knows that in an over’s time he’ll be hitting sixes and getting right back on it. So I think that’s one thing I have learnt: that for the fi rst four or fi ve balls you should be only concentrating on survival.


“Then things will come and your hands will work better and you will score more naturally. I felt after hitting 78 against Surrey at The Oval that I felt in good nick and tried to go from ball one in the next innings, but I’ve worked out now you can’t do that. Hopefully I can take that on for the rest of the season and in the future.”


Maynard’s big challenge, however, is throwing off his early reputation as a one-day specialist. He also wants to be a consistent performer in four-day cricket, but has yet to score a fi rst-class century – something his dad had already achieved by the time he was 21.


“I defi nitely want to play all forms of cricket and not just be a one-day player,” he admitted “Guys who are labelled as


one-day players can be dangerous in the longer format. They tend to score quickly and it can give you a massive advantage into the middle of four-day games. Hopefully I can do that at the business end of the championship and try to push them for promotion.”


The long-term ambition is to emulate his dad and represent England. He is confi dent in his own ability and believes he is not that far away, comparing himself to the batting ability of Craig Kieswetter, a friend at Millfi eld School, who went on to help England lift the World t20 title.


“It is the ambition to play for England. I've got the Ashes DVD (2005), and I've watched it hundreds of times. Playing for England is what I want to do. I think most cricketers do. If I do, then hopefully I'll have a better time than Dad did!


“I do believe I am not too far behind Craig. I suppose it is quite a confi dent thing to say but that is how I feel. He is a brilliant player the way he strikes the ball but I do feel quite close to him in terms of ability.


“I am just trying to string a few scores together and I would dearly love to get my fi rst championship century this summer and contribute to a promotion push.”


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