Grant Elliott has vowed to make an even bigger
impression for New Zealand in the final two games of the NatWest series
with England.
Elliott, drafted into the squad as cover for the injured Jacob
Oram, returned three for 23 on his one-day debut at Edgbaston and then
made a restrained but vital 56 off 102 balls to rescue his side in the
win at Bristol.
The 29-year-old, who played one Test against England in the
winter, admits it took time to make the step up from the Surrey League,
where he featured for Weybridge, to international cricket.
But he felt more at home by the conclusion of Saturday's 22-run win which levelled the series.
Now he is keen to help the Kiwis clinch the series in the final two games at The Oval on Wednesday and Lord's on Saturday.
Elliott said: "I played five days on the trot before I joined up
with New Zealand - three with Sussex Seconds, one for Weybridge and
then a charity game, but I didn't feel as if I was ready to hit the
ground running.
"When you play league cricket, you don't face the sort of
bowlers you are going to face at this level. It was a matter of putting
the work in during the nets.
"You feel a little bit underdone, a bit under-cooked. I think
of myself of a batter who bowls. I felt that I struggled with the bat
at Bristol although I don't think the conditions were that easy.
"But I felt things were clicking towards the end of my innings. Now I just want to build on that and take things forward.
"If I do get an opportunity to play again on Wednesday, I want
to build on that and make sure I get 80 off 80 balls instead of 50 off
100 balls."
Elliott is confident he can adapt to whatever approach is needed out in the middle despite his lack of international experience.
"I am quite a restrained batter. I am used to the longer version of the game," he explained.
"But when batting in the middle order, you have to know when to
play your shots and to back yourself and when maybe to just pull in the
reins a bit, take singles and be content with four an over instead of
going for the big shots.
"At Bristol I was toying with the fact that maybe I should have
gone after things a little bit earlier and tried to force a bigger
total.
"But then we got the message to have a go at the 48-over stage
so I kept pushing the ones until then and Kyle Mills did a great job at
the end with 47 of 40 balls. That was crucial."
Elliott is starting to feel at ease with his role with the
Black Caps after the South Africa-born player admitted to being
emotional when he made his Test debut in March.
"I wouldn't say I am a fully fledged international - I've played one Test and two one-dayers," he added.
"But I feel at ease when I am out there which is a good thing. I don't think I'm panicking.
"I've got quite a calm mind whereas, when I played in the Test,
the moment was quite big for me, quite emotional, because it was
something I always wanted to do as a child."
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