His first-class career with Glamorgan, saw him achieve a batting average of 42.53, take 372 catches and make seven stumpings with the gloves, earned him several caps for England, but he was never able to translate his county form into Test success.
[1] He was picked again in 1989 but then ran foul of the cricketing authorities by agreeing to go with Mike Gatting, on the controversial rebel tour of South Africa when that country had been banned from international sport because of its policy of apartheid.
Nevertheless, his conduct led to a three-year Test ban,[1] but he was eventually granted a recall for the Ashes series in 1993 after he had hit a century for Glamorgan against the Australians,[3] but he failed to make much of an impact with the bat.
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.
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.
[10] Maynard was mentioned in the Manic Street Preachers' "Mr. Carbohydrate", the B-side of A Design for Life, with the lyric, "Have you heard of Matthew Maynard/He's my favourite cricketer/I would rather watch him play than pick up my guitar".