Born in
Oldham,
Lancashire, Maynard was brought up on the island of
Anglesey in
North Wales where he first joined
Glamorgan. His career started in fine fashion when he hit a century on his debut in 1985, hitting three consecutive sixes to reach the 100 and he became the youngest-ever player to score 1,000 runs for the country in 1986. The 54 centuries he scored for Glamorgan during his playing career is also a record - the most any player has scored for the club. These displays of skill did not go unnoticed by the England selectors and he earned a call-up against the
West Indies at
the Oval in 1988. but he failed to make much of an impact with the bat. He was however part of the England squad which won the
Hong Kong Sixes in 1994. Back in domestic cricket, Maynard captained Glamorgan for five seasons between 1995 and 2000. His achievement as captain included leading them to victory in the
County Championship in 1997, and their first appearance since 1977 in a cup final at
Lord's in 2000. That same year he earned one final recall to the England team, but only managed scores of 3 and 0 and it proved to be his last international appearance as a player. In September 2004, he was appointed as assistant coach to the England cricket team, and announced his retirement as a player shortly after, feeling he no longer enjoyed batting. In his short spell as an international coach, he caused some controversy. His appointment was criticised by former England captain
Mike Atherton, who felt that the job should not have gone to someone who had been on the rebel tour of South Africa. His attitude came under fire from former coach
Keith Fletcher, who accused him of being too fond of drinking and partying, to be a role model for young international cricketers. He hit back at Fletcher, criticising his management skills. Maynard continued to coach the England side and at one point drafted in professional
lyricists to help him compose an England team song. After Duncan Fletcher's resignation following the
2007 Cricket World Cup, Maynard was replaced as England assistant coach in May 2007 by
Andy Flower. In an interview following the announcement, Maynard said he had been offered a role with the Indian cricket academy. He previously coached the
Nashua Titans, one of the six South African domestic cricket franchises. He has enjoyed an extremely successful first season, winning the domestic four-day competition (Supersport Series) as well as the domestic T20 competition (MiWay T20 Challenge). At the end of the 2014 season, following the departure of
David Nosworthy, Maynard was appointed the Director of Cricket at
Somerset County Cricket Club. After three seasons at the club Maynard left his role as coach of Somerset after the end of the 2017 season. He was awarded the
MBE in the
2019 New Year Honours. His son
Tom was found dead on 18 June 2012. ==Contemporary usage==