Cricket: Black Cap hero Grant Elliott retired because he had no one to drink beer with

Grant Elliott. Photo / Photosport

Recently retired Black Cap Grant Elliott has once again shown why he's such a cult hero among cricket fans.

Elliott confirmed his retirement from cricket on Wednesday after captaining the Birmingham Bears – including fellow Kiwis Jeetan Patel and Colin de Grandhomme – to a sixth place finish in the England Twenty20 Blast.

The Bears' season ended last weekend after they missed the quarterfinals of the competition.

Speaking to Radio Hauraki's the Matt & Jerry Show, Elliott revealed that one of the reasons he retired was because he didn't have anyone to have a beer with.

"I must admit, you wake up and you've got that passion to play, and that's sort of left me a little bit," the 39-year-old Elliott said.

"You also look around the changing room and you're like, 'how many of these guys are actually gonna have a beer with me tonight?'. Not because I don't like them, [but] the lads are different. They've grown up a little bit differently to how I grew up.

"I was told [back in the day] if I didn't drink they wouldn't trust me."

Elliott admitted that he loved and still loves having a good time, and joked that the game has become too professional.

"I think everyone will tell you that I really enjoyed myself off the park as much as I did on the park," he said.

"Every now and then, I needed a bit of a blowout and needed to let my hair down. And that hasn't changed the whole way through.

"The professionalism has definitely which is a good thing. It is a good thing. But character wise, you want people to be themselves, you don't want it to be a bureaucratic environment.

"I just want guys to be calm, be relaxed, enjoy themselves, and if they are relaxed in the environment and they can be themselves, they've got more chance of performing in the middle."

The Johannesburg-born Elliott was a first-class cricketer in South Africa before moving to New Zealand in 2001.

Elliott – who retired from international cricket in March last year – is best known for his six off South Africa's Dale Steyn to win the 2015 World Cup semifinal for New Zealand at Eden Park.

He played five tests, 83 ODIs and 17 T20 internationals during his international career.