Kent Cricket in Conversation: Rob Elliot
Friday 10th April 2020
Kent supporters live all over the country, and indeed, the world.
Born in Greenwich, Newcastle United goalkeeper and Kent Cricket supporter Rob Elliot came through the system at Charlton Athletic before moving to Tyneside in 2011.
We spoke with the Republic of Ireland International about his passion for both football and cricket, training with Geraint Jones and whether anyone could play both sports professionally in the modern era.
- You’re a big Kent fan – have you been able to get to many games in the Summer? Do you have time to, as a professional footballer?
“I haven’t been able to go much these last few years as I come back to the family home in Kent less now, with having kids and being so far away.
“I still try to watch Kent games when they’re on TV and follow the team online – I really enjoyed the Vitality Blast last year.”
- Who were the cricketers you looked up to most when you were growing up?
“It would have been the time just before the Ashes in 2005 that are the players that stick in your head. That series was unbelievable.
“I think those players took cricket from being a sport watched only by cricket fans to something the whole public took an interest in, and that’s helped the game grow hugely.
“For me personally, it was the likes of Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Steve Harmison, Freddie Flintoff and, of course, Geraint Jones which as a Kent fan was great to have him involved.”
- You’ve played for Frindsbury and Harbledown in the Kent Leagues – was there ever a point growing up where you were more set on playing cricket for a living than football?
“If given the chance maybe, but I was never good enough to be a cricket pro.
“I think cricket is a great escape from football and it’s great to play a sport and compete that isn’t still your job.
“I would live to be a pro cricket player even now approaching 34! But I still play when I can and I’m hoping to get a few games in this Summer, if there is any cricket.”
- You’re a bowler when you play, and you’ve even made some local headlines with your figures in the village game – have you learnt any skills playing cricket that have helped you in your footballing career?
“I think there are so many transferable skills but the mental strength of cricket is huge.
“As a batsman, the resilience you have to have and concentration levels are huge. For a bowler, to be able to keep running in and pounding your body even if things aren’t going well is a toughness that’s hard to relate to in any other sport in my opinion.
“How quicks can bowl 20 overs a day for a season I will never know, and don’t want to!”
- Why do you think you’ve had more success on the cricket field as a bowler? People may assume that wicketkeeping might have been your natural position?
“The natural stance is way too far down for me to be a wicketkeeper – my back wouldn’t last a month!
“I’ve always loved bowling, it a great way to channel aggression and it’s a proper battle between you and a batsman. I like the mental side of it, too – trying to work out how to get people out is a huge mental game.
“I like being in control of the situation with the ball, especially setting fields and trying to bowl to batsmen out.
- Cricketers playing football in warm-ups has been a controversial practice over the past couple of seasons – have you ever tried to get any of your footballing teammates into playing cricket?
“Yeah, we have a mess around in the gym and in the Summer. It’s always a split people who love it and those who hate it. They are the ones that always want a go though! You try to bowl a bit quicker at them.
“I think TV doesn’t do justice to the pace of the game the pros play at. Really, before anyone judges cricket, they should be put in front of a delivery at 80 mph and see how they feel about it then!”
- You’ve trained alongside Kent ‘keeping legend Geraint Jones and also with Yorkshire’s Jonny Bairstow in the past – are there many similarities with how wicketkeepers and goalkeepers operate?
“It was very surreal training with Geraint – he was a great guy and so was Jonny, too. There are lots of similarities and it’s great to see how we all work. The leg and back strength of those guys is incredible.
“There are loads you can do together and it’s great to see those guys work the way they do. Their hand-eye co-ordination is amazing.
“Keeping to the quicks is one thing, but the way they stand up to the stumps is just on a different level. And again, it doesn’t do justice when you watch it on TV.”
- The likes of Derek Ufton played football for Charlton in the Winter and cricket for Kent in the Summer for over ten years during the 1950s. If scheduling allowed, do you think we’d still see some professional multi-sportspeople?
“Yeah definitely. I train with [former Kent bowler] Ben Harmison up here – he plays football for Blyth Spartans in the Conference North now and he could have definitely been a pro footballer if he could have worked to football’s demanding schedule when he was younger.
“It’s something I would have given a go if the option was there but there is not much free-time in either sports at the moment.
“There are a few lads I trained with that definitely would have been able to play both. Maybe in the future there can be a cricket and football crossover tournament at some point!”
- Which player excites you most as a fan from this current Kent squad?
“I think the squad is very exciting at the moment – it’s got a great mix of experience and youth.
“It’s good to see so many of the lads getting International recognition as well. For a while it felt like Kent players were getting overlooked. I think Rob Key has to take credit for that, he always bangs the Kent drum on Sky Sports!
“I have to say Sam Billings is great to watch; very exciting, powerful, and looks like he can play all formats in all situations. Hopefully he will get more of a chance with England chance when he’s fit.
“But it’s exciting times for Kent with the likes of Zak Crawley, Daniel Bell-Drummond and Joe Denly around as well.
“It’s great to see Joe do so well with England after waiting so long for his chance and he’s been one of the most reliable batsmen recently so hopefully we will see more of that when cricket starts again.”
