Wasim Akram
وسیم اکرم

Personal information
Full name	Wasim Akram Chaudhry
Born	(1966-06-03) 3 June 1966 (age 46) Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Nickname	Sultan of Swing, The Two W's (with Waqar Younis), King Of Swing
Batting style	Left hand bat
Bowling style	Left arm fast
Role	(All-rounder) bowler and batsman
International information
National side	Pakistan
Test debut (cap 102)	25 January 1984 v New Zealand
Last Test	9 January 2002 v Bangladesh
ODI debut (cap 53)	23 November 1984 v New Zealand
Last ODI	4 March 2003 v Zimbabwe
ODI shirt no.	3
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2003	Hampshire
2000–2001	Lahore
1997–1998	Lahore
1992–2002	Pakistan International Airlines
1988–1998	Lancashire
1986–1987	Lahore
1985–1986	Lahore
1984–1986	Pakistan Automobiles Corporation
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	104	356	257	594
Runs scored	2898	3717	7161	6993
Batting average	22.64	16.52	22.73	18.90
100s/50s	3/7	0/6	7/24	0/17
Top score	257*	86	257*	89*
Balls bowled	22627	18186	50278	29719
Wickets	414	502	1042	881
Bowling average	23.62	23.52	21.64	21.91
5 wickets in innings	25	6	70	12
10 wickets in match	5	0	16	0
Best bowling	7/119	5/15	8/30	5/10
Catches/stumpings	44/0	88/0	97/0	147/0
Source: ESPNCricinfo, 4 April 2012

Wasim Akram (Punjabi: وسیم اکرم; born 3 June 1966) is a former Pakistani cricketer. He is a left arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman who represented the Pakistan national cricket team in Test cricket and One Day International (ODI) matches.

Akram is regarded as one of the best fast bowlers in the history of cricket. He holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket with 881 and is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler, Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets with 502. He is considered to be one of the founders and perhaps the finest exponent of reverse swing bowling.^[1][2][3]

He was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket during the 2003 World Cup. In 2002 Wisden released its only list of best players of all time. Wasim was ranked as the best bowler in ODI of all time with a rating of 1223.5, ahead of Allan Donald, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Joel Garner, Glen McGrath and Muralitharan.^[4] Wasim has taken 23 4-wicket hauls in ODI in 356 matches he played.^[1] On 30 September 2009, Akram was one of five new members inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.^[5][6] He is the current bowling coach of Kolkata Knight Riders.^[7]

Early and personal life[link]

Akram was born in Lahore, Pakistan on 3 June 1966, to a moderately affluent middle-class arain family.^[8] He was educated at Islamia College in Lahore, where he played as an opening bowler and batsman.^[8] Like several other Pakistani cricketers during the 1980s, his inclusion into the national side was at the behest of a senior player in the team, which in Akram's case, was Javed Miandad.^[9]

At the age of 30, Akram was diagnosed with diabetes. "I remember what a shock it was because I was a healthy sportsman with no history of diabetes in my family, so I didn't expect it at all. It seemed strange that it happened to me when I was 30, but it was a very stressful time and doctors said that can trigger it."^[10] Since then he has actively sought to be involved in various awareness campaigns for diabetes.^[11]

He married Huma in 1995. They had two sons Taimur and Akbar^[12] from their marriage of fifteen years. Huma died of multiple organ failure at Apollo Hospital in Chennai, India on 25 October 2009.^[13]

International career[link]

First-class cricket[link]

In 1988 he signed for Lancashire County Cricket Club in England and went on to become their most successful overseas players. From 1988 to 1998, he opened their bowling attack in their ECB Trophy, Benson and Hedges Cup and National League tournaments. He was a favorite of the local British fans who used to sing a song called "Wasim for England" at Lancashire's matches. In 1998, with Akram as captain Lancashire won the ECB Trophy and Axa League and finished second in the championship tournament despite losing only five matches in all competitions throughout the season. Apart from the National League second division title in 2003, this was the last time Lancashire won a trophy.^[14]

Test cricket[link]

Akram made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in 1985^[15] and in only his second Test match, he claimed 10 wickets.^[16] A few weeks prior to his selection into the Pakistan team, he was an unknown club cricketer who had failed to make it even to his college team. He came to the trials at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan, but for the first two days he did not get a chance to bowl. On the third day he got a chance; his performance convincing Javed Miandad to insist upon his inclusion in the national team.^[9] Akram was hence given an opportunity to play for Pakistan, without any significant domestic experience. In the 1987 Cricket World Cup, when Pakistan played against the West Indies, Akram bowled to Viv Richards in the late overs of the innings but Richards, who is regarded as the best batsman during that period, struggled against Akram's bowling performances.

Akram's rise in international cricket was rapid during the late 1980s. When Pakistan toured the West Indies in 1988, he looked to be the fastest bowler between the two sides. However, a groin injury impeded his career in the late 1980s. Following two surgeries, he re-emerged in the 1990s as a fast bowler who focused more on swing and accurate bowling.^[17]

One Day International[link]

Akram started his ODI career against New Zealand in Pakistan in 1984 under the Captaincy of Zaheer Abaass.^[18] He rose to prominence taking 5 wickets in his just 3rd ODI against a strong Australian side in 1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship who would be future winners of 1987 World Cup. His wickets included that of Kepler Wessels, Dean Jones and Captain Allan Border.^[19]

Rise to prominence (1983- Dec 1991)[link]

In 1984-85 Rothmans Four-Nations Cup and 1985-86 Rothmans Sharjah Cup he took 5 wickets with a run rate of under 3.50. time. He started improving his bowling with the passage of time taking help from senior Pakistani member Imran Khan.

The 1985-1986 Austral-Asia Cup involved Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka playing in UAE Sharjah. Wasim Akram with the help of Abdul Qadir bowled out New Zealand's batting line up for just 64 in the Second Semi final of Cup. Pakistan won that game with more than 27 overs to spare obtaining one of the biggest wins in Pakistani history. In the Final against India he and Imran (captain at that time) shared five wickets between them. His wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri. Akram was becoming the darling of swing in Sharjah. His bowling was difficult to read, causing batsmen problems especially during the latter half of innings.

In 1987 Reliance World Cup held for the 1st time in the sub-continent, Akram struggled on Pakistani pitches where he managed only 7 wickets with an average of over 40 in 7 matches. Akram played West Indies, Sri Lanka and England twice. All group matches were played in Pakistan.

In 1988-89 Benson and Hedges World Series he managed figures of 4-25 against powerful Australia.^[20] He got his hundredth wicket at Sharjah in 1989-1990 Champions Trophy - 2nd Match against West Indies. His 100th wicket was of Ambrose. In that match he took a five-wickets haul for the second time in his career.^[21] In the same match he took his first hat-trick against West Indies. All 3 batsman were bowled.^[21][22][23] Again on 4 May 1990 in Sharjah, Akram took his second ODI hat-trick against Australia. All 3 batsmen were bowled this time also.^[22][24]

His best years in late 1980s were from 1986-1989 when which he took 100 wickets at 22.71 apiece and economy rate of less than 3.9 run/over with 4 4-wicket hauls. His first two 4-wicket hauls against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh came in bowler friendly conditions of Sri Lanka in 1986.^[25]

Till Dec 1991 Akram took 143 wickets in 107 matches with an average of almost 24 and economy rate of 3.84. He took 5 4-wicket hauls.^[17]

Career peak (Jan 1992- Dec 1997)[link]

Akram was a significant figure in the 1992 Cricket World Cup held in Australia, when Pakistan won the tournament. In the final against England, his batting performance during his innings of 33 runs off 19 balls, pushed Pakistan to a respectable score of 249 runs for 6 wickets. Akram then took the important wicket of Ian Botham early on the English batting innings and when brought back into the bowling attack later on, with the ball reverse swinging, he produced a spell of bowling which led to Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis being bowled in successive deliveries in one over. His performances earned him the Man of the Match award for the final.^[26][27] In 1993 Akram took 2 consecutive 4-wicket hauls against Sri Lanka in Sharjah in which 7 out of 8 wickets were either lbw or bowled.^[28] In 1992-1993 Total International Series in South Africa (Involving Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa) his magic was destructive where he took 5 wickets against South Africa and got his 200th wicket in 143rd match.^[29][30][31] Akram took 46 wickets in calender year 1993 certainly his best year ever in ODI.Another astonishment was average which was less than 19 with an economy rate of less than 3.8 runs / over. He took 6 4-wicket hauls in 1993 most by him in any year.^[31] In 1996 World Cup he struggled as he missed crucial quarter final match against India which Pakistan lost and went out of the World Cup. From 1994 till 1996 he took 84 wickets in 39 matches.^[31]

From Jan 1992 - Dec 1997 Akram played 131 matches took 198 wickets at mere 21.86 apiece with 14 4-wicket hauls in ODIs.Run rate was also fantastic with less than 3.8 per over.^[17]

A tough period with some joys (Jan 1998 till 2003 world cup)[link]

In 1999, he led Pakistan to the brink of victory in the World Cup before they capitulated and was defeated by Australia in the final, by eight wickets with almost 30 overs to spare.^[32] This was the start of the match fixing controversies, as critics believed Akram had set up the match for Australia. However, none of the allegations could be proved.^[33][34]

He was Pakistan's best bowler in the 2003 Cricket World Cup taking 12 wickets in 6 matches.^[35] However, Pakistan failed to reach the "Super Six" phase of the tournament and Akram was one of the eight players to be sacked by the Pakistan Cricket Board as a result.^[36][37]

Records[link]

He got 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 tests. That is almost one per six matches and better than any other player in the history. He got 4 hat-tricks in International cricket - two in ODIs^[21][24] and two in Tests,^[38][39] which is another record. He finished with 22 Man-of-the-Match awards in ODIs. In fact, Akram and Shaun Pollock (who also has 22) have the highest number of awards among players whose major suit isn't batting.^[17] In 199 ODI match wins, he took 326 wickets at under 19 apiece with a run rate of 3.70 and took 18 four-wicket hauls.^[17] His 257 not-out against Zimbabwe in 1996 is the highest innings by a number-8 batsman in tests. He hit 12 sixes in that, most by anyone in a test innings.^[40]

Captaincy[link]

Wasim Akram captained Pakistan in 109 ODI matches out of 356 he played. Pakistan won 66 matches of them. His win loss ratio of 1.60 puts him ahead of Imran Khan's1.27 and on par with Waqar Younis's 1.60.^[17] The high points of his captaincy was the 1996–1997 victory in the World Series Cricket in Australia, two Test match wins in India in 1998–1999 and in 1999, when Pakistan reached the 1999 Cricket World Cup final. The low point was the 1996 Cricket World Cup in Pakistan and India, when he had to pull out of the quarter final match against India, citing injury. After Pakistan's defeat, there were angry protests outside his home and riots across the country from angry fans who accused the team of throwing the match and a government inquiry was launched into the failure.

Retirement[link]

On 18 May 2003, at the age of 36, Akram abruptly announced his retirement from international cricket, ending a career which spanned 19 years. He had suggested that he was ready to quit several times towards the end of his career, but Pakistan's sub-par performance in the World Cup proved to be the deciding factor.^[41] Prior to his retirement, he was one of eight senior players dropped for the Sharjah Cup in April 2003, and was then omitted from the Pakistan squad for the subsequent Bank Alfalah Cup triangular series.^[42] Due to his omission from the team, he did not participate in a farewell match. Akram fulfilled his contract play for Hampshire until the end of the English season.^[43]

Post retirement[link]

Media career[link]

Since retiring from cricket, Akram has worked and taken up commentary for television networks and can currently be seen as a sports commentator for ESPN Star Sports and ARY Digital among others. He did commentary on a variety of sporting tournaments including the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, and the 2011 ICC World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Coaching career[link]

In 2010, Akram was appointed the bowling coach consultant of Kolkata Knight Riders, the Indian Premier League team for Kolkata. Sourav Ganguly was always keen to have Akram as the bowling coach for India, during the former's stint as Indian captain. Although this never happened, his dreams were realised to some extent, when Akram was appointed as the bowling coach for the franchise.^[44] While working for the Kolkata Knight Riders, he was also responsible for the signing of Pakistani domestic left-arm fast-bowler Mohammad Irfan.^[45] Akram has also been coaching in Pakistan fast bowling camps, his most notable discovery being the teenage Pakistani bowler Muhammad Amir.

Skills in cricket[link]

During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility. Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length, accompanied by seam and swing bowling skills, extended to both inswingers and outswingers. With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards a bowling innings, and earned him the nickname of one of the "Sultans of Swing", the other one being Waqar Younis.

As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker. Of his 414 Test wickets, 193 were taken caught, 119 were taken leg before wicket and 102 were bowled.^[47][48][49] In partnership with Waqar Younis, he intimidated international batsmen in the 1990s. Together Wasim and Waqar, known as "the two Ws" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket.^[50]

Akram was also skilled with the bat and was regarded as a bowling all-rounder. He was especially effective against spin bowlers. However, he liked to slog and was criticised for his lack of high scores and giving away his wicket too cheaply for a player of his talent. He did silence his critics and the media in October 1996 when he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura. He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match. His batting was also valuable to the Pakistan ODI side, such as his match winning performance in the Nehru Cup, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match; he hit the first delivery he faced for six runs and secured the cup.

Modeling[link]

Akram walked the ramp at the Pantene Bridal Couture Week 2011 which was an event of Style 360.^[51][52]

Award and records[link]

Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements. He was awarded Lux Style Award for Most Stylish Sports Person in 2003.

• In his Test career, Akram took 414 wickets in 104 matches, a Pakistani record, at an average of 23.62 and scored 2,898 runs, at an average of 22.64.^[53]
• In One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52 and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52.^[2]
• Akram was the first bowler in international cricket to take more than 400 wickets in both forms of the game and only Muttiah Muralitharan has since achieved this.^[2][53]
• Akram also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups, a total of 55 in 38 matches. Australia's Glenn McGrath broke the record during the 2007 Cricket World Cup, ending with a final tally of 71 from 39 matches.^[54] On passing Wasim's record, McGrath said, "Wasim Akram, to me, is one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Left-armer, swung it both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball. To go past him is something I will always remember. Probably the other side of the coin is that if you play long enough, you're going to break records here and there."^[55]
• Akram took four hat-tricks in international cricket, two each in Tests matches and One Day Internationals. He is the only bowler in cricket to have achieved four hat-tricks. He was the third of only three bowlers to have taken two Test cricket hat-tricks, the others being Hugh Trumble and Jimmy Matthews. Akram was also the first of only five bowlers to have taken two One Day International cricket hat-tricks. Akram's Test hat-tricks are significant, since they were taken in consecutive Test matches in the same series, a game played against Sri Lanka in the 1998-99 Asian Test Championship. Akram is also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Sami.^[56][57]
• Playing in a Test series against the West Indies at Lahore in 1990–1991, he became one of only six players to have taken four wickets in an over during a Test match. In Akram's case, these achievement was not part of a hat-trick, the third ball he delivered to the batting opposition was a dropped catch, which allowed a single run.^[58][59]
• Akram has also achieved the highest score by a number eight batsman in Test cricket when he scored 257 runs not out from 363 balls against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura. The innings contained 12 sixes which is also a world record for Test cricket.^[60][61]
• He also has the third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen.^[62]
• He has scored the record number of runs in One Day International matches by a player who has never scored a One Day International hundred. His highest score was 86 runs.^[63]

Cricket controversies[link]

In 1992, after he had been successful against the English batsmen, accusations of ball tampering began to appear in the English media, though no video evidence of foul play was ever found. Akram and Younis had been able to obtain prodigious amounts of movement from both new and old cricket balls. The skill of the reverse swing delivery was relatively unknown in England and around the cricketing world during that period.

A far larger controversy was created when critics alleged that he was involved in match fixing. An inquiry commission was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge, Malik Mohammad Qayyum. The judge wrote in his report that:^[64]

This commission feels that all is not well here and that Wasim Akram is not above board. He has not co-operated with this Commission. It is only by giving Wasim Akram the benefit of the doubt after Ata-ur-Rehman changed his testimony in suspicious circumstances that he has not been found guilty of match-fixing. He cannot be said to be above suspicion.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Player profile: Wasim Akram from ESPNcricinfo
• Player profile: Wasim Akram from CricketArchive
• Player Profile: Wasim Akram from Yahoo! Cricket

v t e Pakistan squad – 1987 Cricket World Cup Semi-Finalists 1 Imran Khan (c) 2 Abdul Qadir 3 Ijaz Ahmed 4 Javed Miandad 5 Mansoor Akhtar 6 Manzoor Elahi 7 Mudassar Nazar 8 Rameez Raja 9 Saleem Jaffar 10 Saleem Malik 11 Saleem Yousuf (wk) 12 Shoaib Mohammad 13 Tauseef Ahmed 14 Wasim Akram

v t e Pakistan squad – 1992 Cricket World Cup (1st title) 1 Imran Khan (c) 2 Aamer Sohail 3 Aaqib Javed 4 Ijaz Ahmed 5 Inzamam-ul-Haq 6 Iqbal Sikander 7 Javed Miandad 8 Moin Khan (wk) 9 Mushtaq Ahmed 10 Rameez Raja 11 Saleem Malik 12 Wasim Akram 13 Wasim Haider 14 Zahid Fazal

v t e Pakistan squad – 1996 Cricket World Cup 1 Wasim Akram (c) 2 Aamer Sohail (Vice-captain) 3 Aaqib Javed 4 Ata-ur-Rehman 5 Ijaz Ahmed 6 Inzamam-ul-Haq 7 Javed Miandad 8 Mushtaq Ahmed 9 Rameez Raja 10 Rashid Latif (wk) 11 Saeed Anwar 12 Saleem Malik 13 Saqlain Mushtaq 14 Waqar Younis

v t e Pakistan squad – 1999 Cricket World Cup Runners-up 1 Wasim Akram (c) 2 Moin Khan (wk) 3 Saleem Malik 4 Ijaz Ahmed 5 Waqar Younis 6 Saeed Anwar 7 Mushtaq Ahmed 8 Inzamam-ul-Haq 9 Saqlain Mushtaq 10 Shahid Afridi 11 Azhar Mahmood 12 Abdul Razzaq 13 Yousuf Youhana 14 Shoaib Akhtar 15 Wajahatullah Wasti Coach: Mushtaq Mohammad

v t e Pakistan squad – 2003 Cricket World Cup 1 Waqar Younis (c) 2 Abdul Razzaq 3 Azhar Mahmood 4 Inzamam-ul-Haq 5 Mohammad Sami 6 Rashid Latif (wk) 7 Saeed Anwar 8 Saleem Elahi 9 Saqlain Mushtaq 10 Shahid Afridi 11 Shoaib Akhtar 12 Taufeeq Umar 13 Wasim Akram 14 Younis Khan 15 Yousuf Youhana Coach: Richard Pybus

Michael Slater

Personal information
Full name	Michael Jonathon Slater
Born	(1970-02-21) 21 February 1970 (age 42) Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia
Nickname	Slats
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right arm medium
International information
National side	Australia
Test debut (cap 356)	3 June 1993 v England
Last Test	20 August 2001 v England
ODI debut (cap 114)	9 December 1993 v South Africa
Last ODI	24 May 1997 v England
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1991–2004	New South Wales
1998–1999	Derbyshire
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	74	42	216	135
Runs scored	5,312	987	14,912	3,395
Batting average	42.83	24.07	40.85	26.52
100s/50s	14/21	0/9	36/69	2/27
Top score	219	73	221	115
Balls bowled	25	12	133	12
Wickets	1	0	3	0
Bowling average	10.00	–	37.66	–
5 wickets in innings	–	–	–	–
10 wickets in match	–	n/a	–	n/a
Best bowling	1/4	–	1/4	–
Catches/stumpings	33/–	9/–	116/–	31/–
Source: Cricinfo, 7 December 2009

Michael Jonathon Slater (born 21 February 1970) is a former Australian cricketer who played in 74 Tests and 42 ODIs for the Australian cricket team from 1993 to 2001. He subsequently became a cricket commentator.

Early life[link]

The son of Peter^[1] and Carole, Slater was born in the New South Wales rural city Wagga Wagga on 21 February 1970 after his parents and two elder siblings (Julian and Tracey) had emigrated from the north-eastern coast of England in 1966. They originally migrated to Launceston, Tasmania, Australia by boat, after deciding against moving to Canada. In Launceston, Slater's father taught agriculture and science at high school, as he had done since graduating from college. After three years in Launceston, the Slaters moved to Wagga Wagga, and Peter became a lecturer in agriculture at what is now known as the Charles Sturt University.^[2] Slater lived in Wagga Wagga for his entire childhood, eventually leaving with only fond memories. He later wrote: "Wagga Wagga was a great place to grow up, for many reasons. It was a good size — it had a population of around 50,000 when we moved there — and it was in the country, with a great Australian climate. My family was always involved in sport, so from an early age it just seemed natural for me to play any game that was on offer."^[3]

When still in primary school and aged 11, Slater was selected in in the New South Wales Primary School Sports Association cricket and hockey teams, something he described as "a very big thing" and "totally unexpected". A left-inner (an attacking player who helps out defensively), he also made the state hockey team at Under–12 level in 1981, before going on to later be selected in the Under–13, –15 and –17 teams.^[4] Slater's mother unexpectedly left the family in 1983, when Michael was just 12 years old. He later wrote about the tough personal times that followed.

After his mother left for good, Slater's education standards slipped, with sport becoming the "only thing [he] could focus on properly". School bullying accentuated his academic difficulties in Years 9 and 10, and he once ran home after it was suggested amongst fellow pupils that some bullies "were planning to get [him] after school".^[5] As cricket and hockey began to overlap in his early teenage years, Slater slowly turned the majority of his sporting appetite towards cricket. He joined an inner-western Sydney Under–16 side over the Christmas holidays. Despite not being fond of Sydney, Slater knew that he would have to move to the metropolis if he wanted to further develop his cricketing career. After topping the batting averages in the Under–17s in the following season, Slater was subsequently chosen as captain for the New South Wales Under—16 team. The carnival was not a personal success for the captain; however, he recalls that his team performed "well".^[6]

A self-inflicted accident at school when he was seventeen saw Slater hurt his Achilles tendon with a rock. He played a couple of hockey games following the accident, but had to limp off the field and have consequent surgery in the lead-up to the Under–17 national cricket carnival. Soon after, Slater was informed that, because of his injury, his "dream of playing cricket for Australia was over".^[7] After an operation, though, he surprisingly returned to cricket and was selected in the Under–19 state team for the national championships in Brisbane. After an injury to the captain, Slater once again captained his state, although he and his team under-performed.^[8] He returned as vice-captain the following year for the Under–19 carnival in Canberra, and scored a century in the opening match. In a victorious final against Victoria, Slater scored another century, becoming one of the leading run-scorers in the series.^[9]

Cricket career[link]

A specialist right-handed batsman as well as a very occasional bowler, Slater represented the New South Wales Blues in Australian domestic cricket and played English County cricket with Derbyshire.

Generally known for his swashbuckling style of play and front-foot pulls, Slater went on to open the batting with success in Test cricket, scoring 5,312 runs and 14 centuries at an average of 42; however his One Day International career was less potent, averaging a lowly 24.07. Throughout his career, Slater was infamous for his susceptibility to the "nervous nineties", and although he had a conversion rate of 65 per cent in turning half-centuries into nineties, he took those nineties to centuries only forty per cent of the time.^[10]

He was a product of the AIS Australian Cricket Academy(1989) before appearing for New South Wales in the 1991/92 Sheffield Shield season. He made quick progress to the Australian Test team, and was selected for the Ashes tour of England in 1993, when he was just 23 years of age, narrowly beating Queenslander Matthew Hayden to the opening berth alongside Mark Taylor, who also grew up in Wagga Wagga. In his debut match, he scored a half-century, before compiling his maiden century in the following Test at Lords. He continued his good form into the subsequent home series against New Zealand in 1993–94, netting 305 runs at an average of 76.25. In the 1994–95 return Ashes series in Australia, the right-hander was the leading run-scorer in the series with 623. The following season saw Slater notch his first double-century, against Sri Lanka at the WACA in Perth.

Michael Slater's career performance graph.

Personal crisis[link]

His career fell apart during 2001, and against the backdrop of a marriage breakdown, he showed increased emotion on the field. During a Test match against India in Mumbai, Slater claimed to have taken a diving catch off a mistimed pull-shot by Indian batsman Rahul Dravid. Both Dravid and the umpire Srinivas Venkataraghavan were unconvinced, and Dravid stood his ground. Slater was incensed and angrily confronted both Venkataraghavan and Dravid, shouting at their faces from a distance of less than 30 cm. Television replays showed that it was unlikely that Slater had cleanly caught the ball. Slater was then fined and narrowly evaded a ban for speaking out about the handling of the incident by cricket authorities.

Slater received scant sympathy from his national team-mates in the cauldron-like atmosphere of Australian state cricket. During one match of this period, Shane Warne and Darren Berry of Victoria decided to sledge Slater by suggesting that his temper was like a time-bomb. When Slater came out to bat, Warne and Berry began saying "tick... tock... tick... tock" alternately. After several overs, Slater got impatient and holed out to deep midwicket. As he trudged off, he glared at Warne and Berry, who said in unison "Kaboom!".^[11] During the 2001 Ashes tour, Slater was dropped from the team, apparently due to missing a training session. However, then-captain Steve Waugh has since admitted that Slater was dropped so that he could properly devote his focus to his marital problems. Justin Langer replaced Slater, and after making three consecutive centuries, cemented his position as Australia's new opener, subsequently ending Slater's international career.

Slater later admitted in a candid interview on talk show Enough Rope with Andrew Denton that a lot of his rash behaviour at this time, which included bouts of severe drinking, suicidal thoughts, lashing out at the media and paparazzi, getting tattoos (Slater had the number 356 tattooed on himself under the mistaken impression this was his Test cap number - in fact, Brendon Julian was the 356th player to represent Australia; Slater was number 357 - and buying a red Ferrari (again, with the license plate number MS 356) was directly attributable to him suffering from bipolar disorder and a debilitating back condition (ankylosing spondylitis) which left him doubting if he would ever walk freely again, along with false allegations that he was a cocaine addict and had illegitimately fathered the child of Australian teammate Adam Gilchrist and his wife Mel.^[12]

Media work[link]

After commentating for Channel 4 in the United Kingdom during the 2005 Ashes series, he joined Nine's Wide World of Sports cricket commentary team in January 2006, in a position he still holds. Slater appeared as a contestant on the Australian version of Torvill and Dean's Dancing on Ice, becoming the 4th contestant to be eliminated. He later appeared as a reporter on Channel Nine's health and lifestyle programme, What's Good For You?.

It was announced in January 2009 that Slater would become Sunday sports presenter for the Nine Network's Weekend Today alongside co-hosts Cameron Williams and Leila McKinnon.

Also in 2009, he hosted Australia's Greatest Athlete (alongside Andrew Voss), which aired on Saturday afternoons in January and February.

Michael remained Sunday sports presenter for Weekend Today until 2010.

Slater is a regular contributor to the Triple M Sydney sports panel program "Dead Set Legends", and is the replacement co-host of Richard Freedman on Sky Sports Radio's Big Sport Breakfast with Terry Kennedy.

Michael is now the co-host of The Footy Show (NRL) on Channel 9.

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Slater, Michael (2005). Slats: The Michael Slater Story. Random House. ISBN 1-74051-378-9. 

External links[link]

• Cricinfo profile - Michael Slater
• Ninemsn profile - Michael Slater
• Howstat player overview - Michael Slater
• Dead Set Legends - Michael Slater