Sam Maunder directing operations from scrum-half for England under-20s against France<br>credit: @ppauk | no re-use without consent of copyright holder

By CONRAD SUTCLIFFE

CLYST St George have signed a Premiership player for the season ahead in the C Division East – a Premiership rugby player!

Sam Maunder, a scrum-half on Exeter Chiefs roster, has signed on the dotted line for the Bohea Field side.

Maunder, who was 21 in March, combines his rugby career with studying for a degree in geography at the University of Exeter.

Although he is best known for what he does on the rugby field, where he has been capped by England at under-20 level, Maunder has had a long association with cricket going back to his primary school days.

Sam Maunder in the Devon under-17 side of 2017“My dad (Andy Maunder) and older brother Jack were keen on cricket and when Jack started to play at Heathcoat I tagged along with him,” said Sam.

“I would hit a few balls around and when I got a bit older started to play as well.”

Maunder was quickly talent spotted by the Devon youth set-up and by age 10 was playing in a county age-group side.

“I was a wicketkeeper-batsman, although my keeping was always better than my batting,” said Maunder.

At times Maunder was playing a year-up in Devon sides. As a 14 year old in 2014 he was turning out for Devon under-16s.

SOUTH AFRICA EXPERIENCE

Maunder skippered the Devon Development team on a two-week tour to South Africa in 2015, an experience he described as ‘tremendous’.

There were occasional appearances for club side Heathcoat, but an inevitable decision was looming as Maunder’s rugby career unfolded.

“I played through to under-17 level with my best friend Tom Lammonby (Somerset CCC) then rugby started to get in the way,” said Maunder.

“Playing cricket and pre-season training for rugby don’t go well together and that was when my serious cricket stopped.

“Other than a charity game a couple of years ago, and some pub league cricket that I have really enjoyed, it has been a while since I have played.”

Maunder is friendly with Clyst player and former captain Oz Besley and it was his prompting that reawakened an interest in cricket.

“I won’t be able to play every week, but when I get some time off I would like to play a bit later in the season,” said Maunder.