Grant Elliott
Grant Elliott cemented his name in New Zealand sporting history after his heroics during the semi-final of the 2015 Cricket World Cup. Elliott was thirty-five years old during that World Cup and his journey is no different to every elite athlete’s journey, which is full of ups and downs. Born in South Africa, Grant was somewhat of a teenage Cricket prodigy, becoming a Professional at just the age of seventeen. Originally an opening bowler, but a number of stress fractures in his back stunted his progression and by his early twenty’s was told he would not be receiving another cricket contract in South Africa. It was at this time that Elliott decided to move to the other side of the world for a fresh start in New Zealand.
Unknown in the New Zealand Cricket scene, Grant saw a clearer pathway to be able to live out his childhood dream of playing International Cricket. Between 2001-2007, Elliott was determined to make the most of every opportunity that came his way and eventually found a home in Wellington. When Grant qualified to be able to represent New Zealand, he was quickly picked to make his test debut. Elliott remembers not sleeping the night before and said he had “never been so nervous in my life”. It wasn’t a memorable debut for Elliott, but it was the shorter version of the game where he found his form and made an immediate impact. Over the next couple of years Grant made a number of significant winning contributions for the Blackcaps and quickly became a regular member of the side..
However, a few untimely injuries and mixed performances saw Elliott now on the outer of the national side and was ready to “pack it all in” as he was not named in the 2011 World Cup squad. The next few years Grant was considering calling it a day on his Cricket career but something inside was telling him to not give up. Determined to prove people wrong, Elliott decided he needed to find a way to change his approach mentally and technically, in order to be the cricketer that he wanted to be. A lot of hard work and new perspective, Grant found his form during the 2014/15 season and was somewhat of a surprise selection for the 2015 World Cup squad. The Blackcaps found their form and fought their way to the Semi-Final of the tournament, where Elliott delivered his defining performance, which will forever be remembered by Kiwi sports fans..
Grant puts that performance down to the fact that he found a way to enjoy the opportunity that was presented to him and wanted to be remembered as a big game player. Elliott has learnt a lot of life lessons throughout his career, which he is now passing onto the next generation and into his corporate career. In this episode, Elliott with host van Beek discuss his journey to date; The moment Grant believed he could do Cricket as a career; Moving to New Zealand – starting at zero again; Learning from Negative experiences; Common piece of advice - "Enjoy what you do" - How did you go about 'enjoying' Cricket; Fulfilling a boyhood dream - Named in the 2015 World Cup Squad;‘The Grant Elliott moment’ - The 2015 World Cup Semi-Final vs South Africa; Keys for a High Performing team – Good or Toxic behaviours; Career transitioning - advice for current professional sportspeople.
Chapters
- Childhood/Growing up in South Africa/Key Moments (5:26)
- The moment Grant believed he could do Cricket as a career? (12:29)
- Advice for 20 year old Grant Elliott (14:15)
- Grant wishing he set his Goals higher (17:30)
- Moving to New Zealand – starting at zero again (19:28)
- 2001 to 2007
- How was the mindset and were there any key moments that influenced Grant as a cricketer (23:57)
- Learning from Negative experiences (30:16)
- 'Never been so nervous in my life'
- Making his Test Debut for the Blackcaps (34:34)
- Common piece of advice - "Enjoy what you do" - How did you go about 'enjoying' Cricket (39:30)
- Amazing start to Blackcaps career
- to fighting fitness/form and out of the mix (43:34)
- The disappointment of missing out on the 2011 World Cup Squad… “I was ready to pack it in” (47:34)
- Fulfilling a boyhood dream - Named in the 2015 World Cup Squad (50:58)
- ‘The Grant Elliott moment’ - The 2015 World Cup Semi-Final vs South Africa (56:36)
- ‘The Dale Steyn handshake’ - a great sportsmanship image (1:02:32)
- Going into big moments ‘feeling calm’ - the tools Grant learnt (1:04:12)
- What would you and the Team do differently going into that Final (1:06:57)
- How do you train mentally to be able to perform in those high pressured moments? (1:08:29)
- Keys for a High Performing team – Good or Toxic behaviours? (1:11:53)
- Key features from the best leaders Grant has been around? (1:16:18)
- What were the last few years of your career like after that epic World Cup moment? – Playing the different T20 competitions around the world (1:19:30)
- Career transitioning - advice for current professional sportspeople (1:22:29)
- Where is Grant Elliott in 10 years time? (1:26:09)