In its run-up to the 2005 Ashes, Cricinfo has the "Top 10 Moments that Defined the Men", from the 128-year history of cricket’s oldest international rivalry. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they included Michael Slater’s charge late on the first day of the 2001 series; it might so easily have been overlooked, especially given that he didn’t have a good tour overall.
Slater was one of my cricketing idols, and the sort of hero you always had to be a little protective about (unlike the heroes who stand on firm ground and who you know you never have to worry about, because there’ll always be others standing up for them). It’s easy to forget his contributions - after all, his leaving the Australian team cleared the way for one of the most successful opening pairs ever, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer -but he played a very important role in the success of Mark Taylor’s Aussies in the mid-to-late 1990s. Remember, that was a time before this new golden age of batting began in 2001 and we started seeing a glut of double-centuries and 55-plus batting averages. Back in those years, only the three greats (Tendulkar, Lara, S Waugh) consistently averaged 50-plus over a long stretch and it was more than respectable to average 42-plus as a Test opener. It was also a time before Gilchrist, before Sehwag and Herscelle Gibbs and Chris Gayle and Graeme Smith; among Test openers of the time, Slater and Jayasuriya were the only ones who were consistently aggressive while maintaining a reasonable level of success.
But I’ve fallen into the statistics trap. At his best, Slater was a classically attractive player, and better than most others at taking the game away from the opposition at first whistle. Good to see him up there on an Ashes Top 10.
I remember an innings of his -- i think that was the last 50 he made -- in Titan Cup match (Mohali, if I remember right), where he almost single-handedly took the match away from India, only to see the tail fritter away the advantage. He wasn't opening the innings then. I think he came in four-drop.
ReplyDeleteHis numbers don't do justice to his potential.
The utter weirdness about Slater is his forgettable ODI record - he looked as though he should have been one of the most successful ODI bats of all time. But they ended up playing Mark Waugh instead because Slater was so on-and-off.
ReplyDeleteAnd, of course, he acted like a total dickhead when he claimed that catch against Dravid. But then Asutralians frequently act like dickheads when things don't go their way (sometimes even when they do!).
DD
Very few people know that Slats scored the most runs in a calendar year in tests in a specific year. I think it was 1995 but not certain.
ReplyDeleteThe shot slater played off David Johnson in 1996 proved to be his undoing for quite a while and charecterised him best - flmboyant, risk taker, highly talented but not dependable due to the high risk shots not always producing results.
Anonymous: that was a one-day match, and like DD points out, he was never a successful ODI player. But yes, one would expect the occasional flash of brilliance.
ReplyDeletePratyush: that isn't correct, I'm afraid. Check Cricinfo's records for most Test runs in a calendar year (it's here: http://www.cricinfo.com/db/STATS/TESTS/BATTING/1000_RUNS_IN_CALENDAR_YEAR.html) Richards in 1976 still holds the record, and Slater appears on the list only once, for 1999.
Read a number of your posts. And found them quite interesting. You've been linked.
ReplyDeleteIt's a pity though that Slater totally lost it personally, claiming to have fathered Gilchrist's child and became persona non grata in the Australian side---in a way his mental state (he suffers from bipolar disorder) reflected his on-and-off batting performances.
ReplyDeleteSalter was one of my favourites too, he had a bit of the sundance kid feel about him, on the wild side and yet vulnerable. and he did some wild things like getting a tattoo of his autralian test cap number only to realize that he had got it wrong by 1. Even for statistically minded he was an amazing batsman with 14 centuries and if memory serves me right 9 scores in the 90s which i believe is a record.
ReplyDeleteSurprising how Jardine, Bradman have been totally missed out. Also, Eddie Paynter's effort during the Bodyline series??
ReplyDeleteWonder who amongst the current crop will come up with something this series to warrant a mention in cricinfo's next such compilation?
Slater has turned into a decent commentator as well..I'd rather listen to him than Deano.
ReplyDelete@Not Applicable----yes Eddie Payntor's innings was the stuff of legend. In that vein,
ReplyDelete1 Stan McCabe's spectacular attack on Jardine
2. Don Bradman reversing the batting order on a sticky (dont remember the series)
I meant most runs in a specific year - like Richards is in 76, Ponting in 2003 etc. The list does not give maximum runs in each year so it cannot be said from that one.
ReplyDeletePratyush: I know, but if you look at the one year for which Slater figures in the list (1999) you'll find Tendulkar has more runs for that year (though only 37 more!) And I think the list covers the top run-scorers for each year that Slater played in. Oh well, just nitpicking :)
ReplyDeleteYou are right. I got confused in some thing I saw regarding Slater and Taylor.
ReplyDeleteA page on Slater from howstat you may be interested in. There are others as well on howstat.
http://www.howstat.com.au/cricket/Statistics/Players/PlayerYears.asp?PlayerID=1615