Although more than two years have passed since he last donned a baggy green cap, it would be grossly wide of the mark to describe Matthew Elliott as a forgotten man of Australian cricket. Nor as one of its lost talents.

Because, even if the national selectors might have been unmoved by an appetite for runs that continues to be voracious, the Victorian opener clearly remains one of the country's most accomplished batsmen.

Only a matter of days away from captaining his state for the first time, Elliott is happy. Relaxed too. And optimistic as he plots the important new chapter in his career that is about to begin.

"This is a very exciting time for me," says the 30-year old, whose appearance in 20 Tests between 1996 and 1999 gave the world a glimpse of his considerable talents as a left handed upper order batsman.

"Having a bit of a break over the winter months before starting the pre-season has meant that I'm enjoying being around cricket again. I've really fallen in love with the game again."

It's not that there has been much evidence that Elliott's passion for the game has ever wavered. But the chance to fully overcome a persistent knee injury, to enjoy a leave of absence from playing, and to acquaint himself with his responsibilities as Paul Reiffel's replacement as Victoria's one-day leader has clearly been rejuvenating nonetheless.

As he gears up to play a central role in Sunday's opening match of the 2001-02 domestic season against New South Wales in Sydney, he airs few anxieties about the summer. He hasn't been a captain since his days in charge of the Kyabram under-16s so can barely wait to tackle the learning curve that lies ahead of him.

"Hopefully, I'd like to take a few of the good points away from every captain I've played under and then try and mould them all together. But that's obviously a pretty difficult task.

"I really enjoyed my time under Mark Taylor; I thought he was an exceptional captain. And Shane Warne, tactically, is right there in the very upper echelon of all the people who I've played with. He is very astute and very sharp.

"There are a few different people from whom I'm ideally going to take little bits and pieces."

With Reiffel now scaling back some of his responsibilities as he nears the end of a fabulous career, Elliott was elevated to the Bushrangers' one-day captaincy position three months ago. That move has left the state with different leaders in the two forms of the game, and it's a strategy which the man known affectionately as 'Herb' believes might redress the balance after two seasons of limited-overs disappointment.

"I'm really looking forward to the summer. We've got some clear ideas about the way we want to play our one-day cricket and we have some real direction," he says.

"We're looking to be a lot more proactive and we're going to be very open to trying some different things this year.

"New South Wales is a really good measuring stick for us first up too. We've knocked them over a couple of times in the one-day competition over the last couple of summers, so we'll be keen to do that again."

The team's supporters have been burnt too often in one-day cricket over the last decade to be completely confident about its prospects. Records show that the Bushrangers have finished in the top half of the competition only once in the last six years. But it might just be that Elliott's twin skills as a beautifully stylish batsman and positive skipper prove the difference on this occasion.

Even at a time when cracks are appearing at the top of the Australian order, he's just as undeterred in his response to the question that he must, by now, have become sick of answering. The berth in the national team that was once akin to an obsession now occupies very little focus for a player who gives the impression of being at ease with himself.

"At the end of the day, you've just got to be true to yourself and be your own person. Not try to be something that you're not.

"What concerns me now is playing well for Victoria, and just being happy playing my cricket. Enjoying my cricket. If you can do all that as a player, then everything else takes care of itself."

And there surely can't be too many better ways of looking after things than igniting Victoria's revival as a one-day force.

© 2001 CricInfo Ltd