By Ben Kunicki BBC Sport Online

Up until Saturday's C&G final at Lord's, Matthew Elliott was best remembered by England fans for his 199 at Headingley in 1997.

The elegant left-hander was the batting success of that tour for the Australians, making 556 runs at an average of 55.

It was a performance which saw him named as one of Wisden's cricketers of the year for 1998.

Elliott modest in triumph

However, recent times have not been so kind to the Victorian skipper, with his last Test appearance coming in 1999.

In the meantime, others have moved above Elliott in the pecking order.

The sparkling form of Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer in the opening slots have solved what appeared to be a problem area for Australia, leaving the likes of Elliott in the cold.

He is not the only one. The prolific Mike Hussey is still waiting for his chance despite a mountain of runs for Northamptonshire again this summer.

Cox praise

Somerset skipper Jamie Cox is widely regarded as being the most unfortunate of all having failed to appear in any form of cricket for his country despite his 15,000 runs in domestic first-class cricket.

Cox himself was effusive in his praise for Elliott following Sunday's match.

Elliott has been troubled by knee injuries

"I think he is one of two or three of the outstanding Australian batsman of my generation," he commented.

"If a guy like that has not played Test cricket for three years it says a lot about our cricket."

Yet as things stand Elliott believes himself to be outside the top 30 players in Australia at the moment.

That may be a scary thought for England embarking on an Ashes tour in a month's time but it must seem a depressingly daunting task for the likes of Elliott who still harbours international ambitions.

Elliott began his Victorian career in 1992, yet unusually he was not one of those players who went through the much-vaunted Academy system.

After impressing with his state he finally earned his call-up to the international scene in 1997 against the West Indies at the Gabba.

However, in only his second match a collision with Mark Waugh saw him suffer the first of his knee injuries.

Finest moment

He returned in time to play South Africa in March the following year - a series which set him up for his amazing Ashes series.

Headingley that year was the scene of his finest moment with his Test-best innings proving a match-winning knock.

For once the Australians were in disarray on 50 for four when Ricky Ponting joined Elliott in a rescue mission.

The pair added 268 for the fifth wicket to take Australia crusing past England's lowly 172.

Elliott went on to add the icing on the cake, finishing one short of his double century before becoming the eighth man out with the score on 444.

Eventually Australia passed 500, to set up an easy innings victory.

Elliott was in good form for Victoria last season

That should have been the springboard for Elliott's career but despite a century against New Zealand in Hobart at the end of 1997 a series of poor scores saw him dropped.

He returned against the West Indies in 1999, making 44 in the first Test at Port-of-Spain.

However, he failed to pass 20 in the next two Tests and with Brian Lara turning the series round single handedly for the hosts, Elliott lost his place for the last time.

A spell with Glamorgan in county cricket in 2000 was followed by an operation on his troublesome knee.

But in 2001/02 he was productive for Victoria.

This English summer Elliott has impressed in his short stint with Yorkshire as a replacement for Darren Lehmann.

Saturday's match-winning innings at Lord's was a master-class in one day batting as he failed to get flustered despite the early clatter of wickets.

With supreme shot-selection and excellent timing he drove Somerset's bowlers and Andy Caddick in particular to distraction.

After the match Elliott admitted that it was the finest one-day innings he had played, whilst Cox thought it one of the best he had seen.

Despite that Elliott's ambition for a World Cup slot looks more distant than ever.

Just the day before another left-handed opener, Hayden, slammed 146 in Australia's destruction of Pakistan.

And with players like that ahead of him, Elliott's hopes could be forlorn.