Matthew Elliott did not have a psyche designed for International cricket.
You could argue that the competitive sport of amateur table tennis would have troubled him.
He was the flower that grew on the empty mountain, not in a beautiful garden.
He was weird, he didn’t fit in, was quiet and intense and made his team mates nervous.
Batting wise he was a genius, but very rarely did we see that internationally.
International cricket is a mental test even more than it’s a physical test, and for whatever reason matty could never conquer it.
If you compare him purely as a batsmen to Mark Taylor or Justin Langer, he is simply twice as talented, but the game got to him, and they played to their maximum to make it.
If you have never seen Elliott in full flight you have missed something brilliant.
His cover drives and pull shots were as aesthetically pleasing as anyone before him.
For years I held on to a grotty old photo of Herb playing a cover drive to perfection, the photo was hypnotic.
I still remember a pull shot he played off Allan Donald one day, it never went more than 3 meters off the ground and it went for six.
Players of his class don’t come along very often, just a shame he never showed the world that.
You can read more of me tossing off on Matthew Elliott over here.www.cricketwithballs.com "the only cricket blog that offers $ex with evil dragons"
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