Mark is following in family footsteps

Mark Elliott is following a family tradition as he progresses through the cricket umpiring ranks.
Elliott, 49, from Masterton, has just been promoted to New Zealand Cricket's "A" umpiring panel which could see him appointed to the likes of national one-day championship games and major age group competitions.
And with father Graeme Elliott having officiated at first-class level in the 1970s and sister Karen Knott presently umpiring in the Bolton League in England it would be easy to think they provided the main inspiration for his own involvement in that particular sphere of the game.
Not so, however. Rather it was an injury which stopped him from playing cricket of a social nature seven years ago that prompted him to "have a crack" at umpiring just so he could continue an active interest in a sport which, in his heyday, saw him play something like 80 matches for Wairarapa as a top order batsman.
"I thought why not try umpiring ... and I haven't play a game since," Elliott recalled yesterday. "I guess it suited me and you get the best seat in the house, don't you?"
Elliott's progression to the "A" panel has been rapid and comes after he umpired in several Hawke Cup inter-provincial matches last season as well the national under-19 tournament and finals weekend for the Gillette Cup national secondary schoolboys tourney.
His ambition now is to be appointed to the Elite First Class panel, members of which regularly officiate in national four-day competition matches and other important first-class games and from whom the international panel is chosen, and he is determined to give that a "decent crack" too.
"You have to aim for the top, it's still a long way off but if you stay positive you never know what might happen." he said.