mr_mister
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Even perhaps more than Law and Lehmann I feel Matthew Elliott can claim to feel the hardest done by he didn't get to play 30+ tests.
Having to retire hurt on 78 in his second test was the first bit of bad luck. Looking quite assured against a very strong Windies bowling attack, this injury was quite the setback. The way it happened too, colliding with Junior mid pitch going for a run, was super unlucky.
He gets back into the side from a bad knee injury and averages 36 in South Africa in his next series, which included a solid 85. While he didn't set the world on fire he didn't look out of place.
Then we get to ashes 1997. A lot of players beat up England around this time, but this was a tough series for batting. England mainly used Gough, Headley, Caddick and Malcolm as their quicks and Tufnell bowled out of his skin in his one test. Other than Gus Fraser you can't really say they were too far away from their top pace attack from the era. The results showed this. Australia were bowled out for under 250 four times and under 120 twice. The two wins England got was the most they ever got in a series during the 16 year period of Australian dominance across 8 series.
And Elliott killed it. No other Australian got past 400 runs and he hit 556. It was the most runs an Australian got in England between the 1989 series and 2019. It's the 9th most runs an aussie has ever got on in a series in England, and that includes iconic series like Taylor's '89, Smith's '19 and Bradman's '30. It was more than Bradman got in 1948. His 199 came on a bowler's wicket, England posted 172 in their first innings and Australia were 4-50 before Ponting joined Elliott. To put into perspective how much this series performance flew under the radar, the man of the series award was tied between McGrath and Thorpe. Thorpe scored 103 runs less than Elliott.
We get to the aussie summer, he tons up in the second test against New Zealand. He's averaging 47 as an opener from 14 tests at this point, his only not out being the retired hurt in his second test. He's already gone past 1000 test runs. The credit he has in the bank at this point should be through the roof. He fails against South Africa and is dropped. Mark Taylor, who had averaged 23 in 17 tests from Boxing day '95 to the beginning of the '97/98 summer, is saved by an unbeaten 169 in the final test of the SA series.
Elliott gets recalled in 1999 after Taylor finally realises he's past it. He comes up against Walsh and Ambrose at their home, stumbles and is dropped mid series. Gets one more test in 04 against SL, has to bat out of position at 3 and is dropped after 1 match.
Very unlucky.
Having to retire hurt on 78 in his second test was the first bit of bad luck. Looking quite assured against a very strong Windies bowling attack, this injury was quite the setback. The way it happened too, colliding with Junior mid pitch going for a run, was super unlucky.
He gets back into the side from a bad knee injury and averages 36 in South Africa in his next series, which included a solid 85. While he didn't set the world on fire he didn't look out of place.
Then we get to ashes 1997. A lot of players beat up England around this time, but this was a tough series for batting. England mainly used Gough, Headley, Caddick and Malcolm as their quicks and Tufnell bowled out of his skin in his one test. Other than Gus Fraser you can't really say they were too far away from their top pace attack from the era. The results showed this. Australia were bowled out for under 250 four times and under 120 twice. The two wins England got was the most they ever got in a series during the 16 year period of Australian dominance across 8 series.
And Elliott killed it. No other Australian got past 400 runs and he hit 556. It was the most runs an Australian got in England between the 1989 series and 2019. It's the 9th most runs an aussie has ever got on in a series in England, and that includes iconic series like Taylor's '89, Smith's '19 and Bradman's '30. It was more than Bradman got in 1948. His 199 came on a bowler's wicket, England posted 172 in their first innings and Australia were 4-50 before Ponting joined Elliott. To put into perspective how much this series performance flew under the radar, the man of the series award was tied between McGrath and Thorpe. Thorpe scored 103 runs less than Elliott.
We get to the aussie summer, he tons up in the second test against New Zealand. He's averaging 47 as an opener from 14 tests at this point, his only not out being the retired hurt in his second test. He's already gone past 1000 test runs. The credit he has in the bank at this point should be through the roof. He fails against South Africa and is dropped. Mark Taylor, who had averaged 23 in 17 tests from Boxing day '95 to the beginning of the '97/98 summer, is saved by an unbeaten 169 in the final test of the SA series.
Elliott gets recalled in 1999 after Taylor finally realises he's past it. He comes up against Walsh and Ambrose at their home, stumbles and is dropped mid series. Gets one more test in 04 against SL, has to bat out of position at 3 and is dropped after 1 match.
Very unlucky.
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