Matthew Elliot Retires

So, Matthew Elliot decided to retire. As far as his international career is concerned, he'll probably be best remembered (if at all) for running into Mark Waugh back in 1999 and damaging his knee so badly he couldn't play for years. Elliot was one of those players that would score a mountain of runs at state level but never converted it into an international career, and it made me think about those "Champion First Class Players" that just can't seem to cut it on the big stage.

Clearly they have the skill, you just can't keep scoring mountains and mountains of runs or take bags and bags of wickets without having a bit of talent, but at the end of the day I suppose sometimes nerves can get the better of a player and they can freeze up and underperform.

Elliot is a prime example, I think Bichel and Kasprowicz (who incidently has also retired just recently) are bowlers that never quite made it despite showing so much form at state level. I suppose in a way Michael Bevan was another example (at least at test level) along with Simon Katich and maybe Chris Rogers...