Johannesburg-born but based in Wellington, Grant Elliott left his native South Africa in 2001 looking for new horizons, and found them in March 2008 when he was named in New Zealand's 13-man squad for the first Test against England at Hamilton. He won his first Test cap in the final Test after Jacob Oram picked up an injury, but struggled to make an impression with one wicket and two batting failures. Six months earlier, having completed his residency qualification, he was handed a place in the 30-man preliminary squad for the World T20, but missed the final cut.

A compact and correct batsman, and a swing bowler with a measured run-up, he enjoyed a productive season for Wellington in 2006-07, with 361 runs in seven matches at 45.12, including two of his three career centuries. He made one A team appearance for South Africa before switching his allegiance. His first claim to fame was his 115 against Australia in Sydney which nearly took New Zealand home. He impressed with his temperament in a tense chase against Pakistan in the 2009 Champions Trophy semi-final.

Following Oram's retirement from Tests, Elliott had a chance to cement his place but did not take it, although he earned a surprise recalled to the one-day side in early 2013, playing in New Zealand's historic ODI series win in South Africa.

He saved his best for his final year of ODI cricket, guiding a stiff chase before hitting the winning six off Dale Steyn in a memorable World Cup semi-final at a packed, emotional Eden Park in March 2015, to put New Zealand into their first World Cup final. Twelve months on, following the 2016 World T20, he announced his retirement from ODIs.
Andrew Miller