Michael Slater

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Michael Jonathon Slater (born 21 February 1970) is a former Australian cricketer and TV presenter. He played 74 Test matches and 42 One Day Internationals for Australia between 1993 and 2001, often opening the batting. He scored more than 5,300 runs in Tests, including 14 centuries, with a top score of 219. In ODIs he accumulated 987 runs. He was part of the Australian team that finished as runners-up at the 1996 Cricket World Cup.

Slater grew up in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. His family had English roots, and his mother left the family when he was 12. He later spoke about battling bipolar disorder and about how school bullying affected him. A natural athlete, he excelled in cricket and hockey as a youth and rose through New South Wales junior teams before making his Test debut on the 1993 Ashes tour of England. His career highlights include a standout 1994–95 season, a double century against Sri Lanka, and a memorable 123 against England in the 1998–99 Ashes. He was dropped from the team in 1996 for form reasons but made a comeback; his last Tests came in 2001, with Justin Langer taking over as opener.

After retiring from cricket, Slater moved into broadcasting. He worked as a TV commentator and presenter in Australia and the UK, appeared on Dancing on Ice in 2006, and later covered cricket and other sports for Nine and then Seven Network. He drew criticism in 2021 for comments about COVID-19 restrictions in India and was not renewed by Seven.

Slater has faced ongoing legal issues. From 2021 he faced multiple arrests on domestic violence and stalking charges, with convictions in 2022 and a two-year jail term to be served in the community in 2023. In 2025 he faced further charges, including assaulting a police officer, and received a four-year sentence with part of it suspended. Cricket NSW later revoked his lifetime membership. His post-cricket life has been marked by these legal troubles.