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

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er, 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: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

in the 1992–93 season, he soon established himself as one of the top opening batsmen in Australian domestic cricket.

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 The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island countries and 19 dependencies in three archipelagos: the Greater Antilles, the Lesser An ...

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) debut ...

, resulting in the need for

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

surgery Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...

. Elliott returned for the 1996–97 tour of South Africa. He retained his place for the 1997 tour of England, scoring two centuries in the

Ashes series The Ashes is a Test cricket series played biennially 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, i ...

, including a career-best 199. He also made his

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

debut in 1997 in the

Texaco Trophy The Texaco Trophy was the name used for One Day International cricket tournaments held in England from 1984 until 1998. The series were sponsored by American oil company Texaco replacing the previous sponsorship by the UK's Prudential (between 19 ...

, 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 for 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 in the Australian side, and due to inconsistent performances after the Ashes series he slipped out of the national team in 1999.

Steve Waugh Stephen Rodger Waugh (born 2 June 1965) is an Australian former international cricketer and twin brother of cricketer Mark Waugh. A right-handed batsman and a medium-pace bowler, Waugh is considered one of the greatest cricketers of all time. ...

, 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." Waugh stated that " lliottwould have been a perfect candidate... ora sports psychologist." Elliott continued to perform at domestic level for Victoria and on the English county scene, and in the 2003–04 season scored a remarkable 1381 runs in the

Pura Cup The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia. The Sheffield Shield is named after Lord Sheffield. Prior to the Shield bei ...

, 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 th ...

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

Michael Bevan Michael Gwyl Bevan (born 8 May 1970) is an Australian former international cricketer. He played as a left-handed batsman and a slow left-arm wrist spin bowler. For several years, he was considered the world's finest One Day International (ODI) ...

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

Cricket Australia Cricket Australia (CA) 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 Cricket'. It is incorporated as an Australian Public Company ...

contract, he was recalled to the national team for the first time in five years. However, he played in just one unsuccessful Test against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, where he batted at number 3 in place of

Ricky Ponting Ricky Thomas Ponting (born 19 December 1974) is an Australian cricket coach, commentator, and former player. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time and is the most successful captain in international cricket history, ...

(who was absent because of 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 2004–05 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 States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

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 is integrated with the Victorian Women's Cricket Association to include funding, programs, office accommodation and staff assistance. ...

although Elliott appealed their decision. On 5 May, a

grievance tribunal overturned Cricket Victoria's decision, freeing the way for Elliott to move. In the 2005–06 season, Elliott struggled with injury and inconsistent form. The 2006–07 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 Trophy The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scotland and Ireland. Lan ...

final to win the title for

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

- their first one-day trophy for 15 years. He signed a short-term contract for the 2007 season with Yorkshire 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 o ...

, 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 2 ...

. However, following

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

'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 Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

on a four-week deal as cover for Australian left-handed batsmen

Jimmy Maher James Patrick Maher (born 27 February 1974) is an Australian former cricketer, who played One Day Internationals. He is "an attractive left-handed batsman with a clumping cover-drive". He was a part of the Australian squad which won the 2003 ...

Retirement

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

Indian Cricket League The Indian Cricket League (ICL) was a short-lived cricket league that ran from 2007 to 2009. It was sponsored by Zee Entertainment Enterprises, a media company. The ICL had two seasons, featuring four international teams and nine domestic teams ...

Personal life

Elliott's son, Will Elliott, is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who currently plays for the

Northern Bullants The Northern Bullants are a semi-professional Australian rules football club that currently competes in the Victorian Football League (VFL). The club, which is based in the Melbourne suburb of Preston, plays its home games at Preston City Ov ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL). He played for in

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, before joining the Bullants for the

2024 VFL season The 2024 VFL season was the 142nd season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), a second-tier Australian rules football competition played in the states of Victoria (state), Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland. The season began on 22 March ...

after being overlooked at the

2023 AFL draft The 2023 AFL draft consisted of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) could trade and recruit players during and following the completion of the 2023 AFL season. Key dates 2023 mid-season rookie dra ...

. Elliott's other son, Sam is a first class cricketer.

References

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 Australian expatriate cricketers in England Kensington cricketers Australian cricketers Cricketers from Melbourne ICL World XI cricketers Chandigarh Lions cricketers People from Chelsea, Victoria Australian expatriate sportspeople in Wales Australian expatriate cricketers in India 20th-century Australian sportsmen 21st-century Australian sportsmen