With New Zealand’s domestic cricketers back to work this week, former BLACKCAP Grant Elliott has found himself reflecting on his own career with the Wellington Firebirds.
Although he will be most fondly remembered for his exploits in the 2015 Cricket World Cup semi-final against South Africa, Elliott himself recalls the importance of the road to the international stage.
“The domestic game gives our cricketers the important foundations as a player to grow and develop,” he said.
“To be an international cricketer you have to be good at all three formats. I’m loathed to say cricketers should just focus on one format when they are young.”
A large chunk of the 39-year-old’s near two decades in domestic cricket was spent in Wellington; the memories at the Basin Reserve still fresh in Elliott’s mind.
“We were always a good team on paper but we built a culture at the Firebirds that helped us win trophies. You want to enjoy playing together but you also want to win, we were lucky enough to do both,” Elliott said.
Elliott was lucky enough to taste plenty of success with the Firebirds, his outstanding 2014/15 Ford Trophy season taking him from an outside chance of World Cup selection to an eventual finalist.
He averaged over 50 with the bat in 2014/15, scoring over 700 runs.
“I had a lot of perspective at that time. I was enjoying a good balance outside of cricket, both working and playing,” he said.
“I found using my mind outside of cricket meant I didn’t dwell on things. When I was at training I was concentrating on cricket, otherwise I had an outlet to put things in perspective and it clearly worked for me.”
At the tail end of his career, Elliott was lucky enough to have T20 stints in both Pakistan and England before calling time.
“Spin bowling hasn’t played as much of a part here as it has overseas. Our conditions are good for hitting and it’s great to see some talent coming through and performing in the Burger King Super Smash,” he said.
Elliott leaves New Zealand domestic cricket with fond memories, his swan song in the Burger King Super Smash was a Grand Final victory with the Firebirds over the Central Stags.
“I was very privileged to play with some great players and even better blokes,” he said.
NZC wish Grant Elliott all the best in his life after cricket and thank him for the memories he created playing the game.
