Matthew Thomas Gray Elliott (born 28 September 1971) is a former

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er from Australia, who played as a left-handed opening

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

Beginnings with Victoria

After he made his debut for

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in the 1992–1993 season, he soon established himself as one of the top opening batsmen in Australian domestic cricket, before progressing his way through to the Bendigo and District Cricket Association playing for the Bendigo Cricket Club in his role as an opening batsman.

Test career

Elliott was called up to the Australian national team in the 1996–97 season, making his

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

debut against the West Indies in November 1996. Unfortunately for Elliott, in just his second Test match he was injured in a mid-pitch collision with teammate

Mark Waugh Mark Edward Waugh (born 2 June 1965) is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer, who represented Australia in Test matches from early 1991 to late 2002, after previously making his One Day International (ODI) debu ...

, resulting in the need for knee surgery. Elliott returned for the 1997 tour of South Africa. On the

Ashes series The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, ''The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first Te ...

in the same year in England and scored two centuries, including a career-best 199. He also made his One Day International debut in 1997 in the

Texaco Cup The Texaco Cup, officially known as the International League Board Competition, was an association football competition started in 1970, involving sides from England, Scotland, and Ireland that had not qualified for European competitions. It wa ...

, but scored 1, making it his only appearance in a limited overs international. Elliott was named one of the

Wisden Cricketers of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

for 1998, although this wasn't enough for him to hold down a regular spot, and due to inconsistent performances after the Ashes series, he slipped out of the national team in 1999. Steve Waugh, in his autobiography, described Elliott as "technically gifted but temperamentally flawed" and "prone to serious bouts of self-doubt and a tendency to let injuries rule his thought processes." He stated that " lliottwould have been a perfect candidate... ora sports psychologist." He continued to perform at domestic level for Victoria and on the English county scene, and in the 2003–2004 season scored a remarkable 1381 runs in the

Pura Cup The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Shi ...

, overtaking

Graham Yallop Graham Neil Yallop (born 7 October 1952) is a former Australian international cricketer. Yallop played Test and One Day International cricket for the Australia national cricket team between 1976 and 1984, captaining the side briefly during the W ...

's previous record (which was succeeded the very next year in 2004-05 by

Michael Bevan Michael Gwyl Bevan (born 8 May 1970) is a former Australian cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a slow left arm wrist-spin bowler. He has been credited for initiating the art of finishing matches. For several years, he was considered as ...

). Rewarded with the Pura Cup Player of the Year Award and a new

Cricket Australia Cricket Australia (CA), formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board (ACB), is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Crick ...

contract, he was recalled to the national team for the first time in 5 years, albeit for one unsuccessful Test against Sri Lanka where he batted at number 3 in place of Ricky Ponting who took time off due to a family bereavement. Batting outside his normal position, Elliott scored just 0 and 1. This performance dented hopes of a resurgence in his international career greatly. In addition to this, he also had a below-par season in the subsequent 04/05 domestic season for Victoria, averaging in the mid-30s.

Move to South Australia

In April 2005 Elliott made a request to leave the Victorian team to join

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

as player-coach; this was originally rejected by

Cricket Victoria Cricket Victoria (CV) is the governing body for the sport of cricket in the Australian state of Victoria. It was formed on 29 September 1875 as the Victorian Cricket Association. It is integrated with the Victorian Women's Cricket Association to ...

although Elliott appealed their decision. On 5 May a

grievance tribunal overturned Cricket Victoria's decision, freeing the way for Elliott to join

. In the 2005–06 season Elliott struggled with injury and inconsistent form. The 2006-07 Australian domestic season was equally disappointing, with just 193 runs at 13.8 from seven first class (

) games. As a result, he was axed from the South Australian state side. Curiously his form in the domestic one-day competition was much better with 465 runs at 51.6, highlighted by two centuries.

English County Cricket

On the English county scene, Elliott made a century at Lord's in the 2002 C & G final to win the trophy for Yorkshire - their first one-day trophy for 15 years. He signed a short-term contract for the 2007 season with Yorkshire CCC. This was as cover for Yorkshire's primary overseas player

Younis Khan Mohammad Younis Khan PP SI (Urdu: ; Pashto: ; born 29 November 1977) is a Pakistani professional cricket coach and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team in all three formats of the game, and is widely regarded as ...

, who was due to be participating in the

2007 Cricket World Cup The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth Cricket World Cup, a One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007. There were a total of 51 matches played, three fewer than at the ...

. However, following

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

's untimely exit, Younis was able to take up his role at his new county from the start of the season, thus Elliott was left surplus to requirements. Following the cancellation, Elliott agreed to join Glamorgan on a four-week deal as cover for Australian left-handed batsmen Jimmy Maher.

Retirement

Elliott announced his retirement from first-class cricket in February 2008. He then played for the

Chandigarh Lions Chandigarh Lions was one of the nine teams in the defunct Indian Cricket League. They were one of the six founding teams and were the runners-up in the inaugural Twenty20 Championship, which was won by Chennai Superstars. The team represented Ch ...

in the ICL.

Notes

External links

*
HowSTAT! statistical profile on Matthew Elliott
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Matthew 1971 births Living people Australia One Day International cricketers Australia Test cricketers Glamorgan cricketers South Australia cricketers Victoria cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Yorkshire cricketers Kensington cricketers Australian cricketers Cricketers from Melbourne ICL World XI cricketers Chandigarh Lions cricketers People from Chelsea, Victoria