Humm - so far going worse than I had imagined.
What concerns me is that Jade Dernbach will have to admit to a significant drug and drinking culture within the Surrey dressing room... which could lead to him and others being banned too.
What a grim story.
A brilliant young cricketer had been using cocaine daily for months and was four times over the drink-drive limit when he was killed on a rail track, an inquest heard today.
Tom Maynard, the Surrey batsman who was expected to be selected for England, was hit by a London Underground train after running away from police who had earlier stopped him on suspicion of drink-driving in June last year.
Westminster Coroners’ Court heard that Maynard, 23, had gone drinking with two team-mates at The Ship pub in Wandsworth, South London, following Surrey’s Twenty20 defeat against Kent.
The players returned to the nearby home they shared and Maynard called his girlfriend Carly Baker, an underwear model, at 3.30am, saying he wanted to see her.
PC David Wishart told the court he was on duty in an unmarked police car in Wandsworth when they saw Maynard’s black Mercedes driving erratically at 4am.
The officer followed the car to a dead-end road where Maynard was trying to perform a U-turn.
When police turned on their blue lights Maynard fled the car owned by Surrey Cricket Club.
The player left behind his BlackBerry telephone with his Facebook page still open. The last call was to a contact identified as Lady Tiger, said PC Wishart.
PC Tara Wallond told the court that the woman named Lady Tiger called Maynard’s telephone but did not give her details and did not call back as requested.
Police dog search teams joined the hunt for Maynard but could not find him, the court was told.
The court heard that a driver of a District Line train saw Maynard lying on tracks between Wimbledon Park and Southfields stations in South London at 5am.
Martin Hopping, the train driver, said he initially thought white ballast bags had been left on the tracks.
“To my horror I saw a pair of trainers,” he said. “[The person] was perfectly still lying across all four tracks. The arms were down by its side.
“The impression I had was not that it had fallen but that this person had laid down.”
Dr Simon Poole, a forensic pathologist, said Maynard had burns on his right foot and ankle consistent with contact with a live rail track but he could not say whether it occurred before or after death.
He said that that electrocution could have killed the player or left him unconscious.
Dr Poole said tests showed that Maynard had taken ecstasy, cocaine and was almost four times the drink-drive limit when he was killed.
Dr Rosa Cordero told the court that analysis of Maynard’s hair showed that player had being taking cocaine habitually for three-and-a-half months.
Jade Dernbach, the England and Surrey fast bowler, and Rory Hamilton–Brown, who was Surrey captain at the time, are due to give evidence to the inquest.
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