Slater: dad lie was too much

[Zainub]

FORMER Test star Michael Slater has re-opened some of Australian cricket's most painful wounds by revealing how his friendship with Adam Gilchrist has been "tarnished forever" and Steve Waugh was not his ideal captain.Slater also said some teammates let him down during the controversial end to his career when he was also struggling to cope with the breakdown of his marriage. The interview with Inside Cricket magazine exposes more of the behind-the-scenes dramas of the world's best cricket team as it prepares for Thursday's first Test against Pakistan in Perth. Slater said his relationship with Gilchrist was jolted by a devastating false rumour that circled the cricket world in the 2001-02 summer. The rumour suggested Slater was the father of Gilchrist's first child and it was fuelled by a cricket website that posted the lie. Gilchrist later wrote about the incident in a book but Slater had remained silent until now.

"That was the worst thing, that was almost the end for me," Slater said. "It was the sickest thing I have ever read but it tarnished our friendship forever. We all know there was nothing in it but so many people read it. "Now there is this unsaid something between us. It hurt everyone. We sued over it and we got good money but once again my reputation was smashed. It got to the point where I had to answer stuff from my family. When they brought it up, I stormed out of a family function." The fallout came six months after Slater's career had ended on the 2001 Ashes tour. Waugh had told the dashing opener he wasn't required for the final Test and Slater never again played for his country. He now admits former opening partner Mark Taylor was his preferred captain during his 74-Test career.

"You have to understand you have different personalities in the side," Slater said. "Tubby was the best captain for me. Apart from the obvious, he was a good player, he was a great person and he was a great communicator. I've always struggled with insecurities. Tugga (Waugh) just wasn't a natural person with communication and that just wasn't the best thing for me." Slater had already endured a terrible 2001 anchored by his marriage problems and indifferent form. His emotions bubbled over during the 2001 Indian tour when he clashed on-field with batting gun Rahul Dravid over a disputed catch. "It was bloody hard," Slater said. "I thought people may have tried to understand and ask me questions. There were not enough questions asked from my teammates. "There are a lot of egos in that team. There are great guys but it is a delicate world. You've got to be toeing the line and it's no place for being too much of an individual. "I believe you can be an individual in a team and be a team player. There are a couple in that side who can get away with more than others."

Slater's first-class career was eventually finished by a debilitating illness that left him unable to leave his Sydney home. But he has recovered and now spends time away from Australia as a television commentator.Slater said he remained in contact with ex-wife Stephanie."That was the most traumatic thing that's happened to either of us," Slater said."It was a combination of the cricketing lifestyle, different individuals and my personality."Being a cricketer you're in an unreal world and you're living an unreal lifestyle. There is no other sport that takes you away from your family like it does. "We're on good terms now and we respect each other."

By Michael Crutcher, Herald Sun

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Another divorced cricketer? No wonder Derek Pringle once said don't marry a cricketer.......On the story above though, its somewhat interesting, somewhat sad...and some what ....(another word I can't remember now)....

[Oliver]

Originally Posted by Zainub Razvi

The rumour suggested Slater was the father of Gilchrist's first child and it was fuelled by a cricket website that posted the lie. Gilchrist later wrote about the incident in a book but Slater had remained silent until now.

"That was the worst thing, that was almost the end for me," Slater said. "It was the sickest thing I have ever read but it tarnished our friendship forever.

That was an extremely unfortunate and unpleasant piece of media rumour-mongering... I had no idea, throughout my brief visit in 2003, that Australian websites were as salacious as the English tabloids. I suppose there is always going to be somebody who will stoop exactly as low as necessary...

However, it will be interesting to listen in to the chat on the stump mics when Gilchrist comes out to bat in England next summer. You'd think there would be subjects that players would steer away from... but you never know.

[imaginarydiva]

Originally Posted by Zainub Razvi

"You have to understand you have different personalities in the side," Slater said. "Tubby was the best captain for me. Apart from the obvious, he was a good player, he was a great person and he was a great communicator. I've always struggled with insecurities. Tugga (Waugh) just wasn't a natural person with communication and that just wasn't the best thing for me." [/i]

Interesting cuz when i interacted with Tugga,i asked him abt leadership qualities and he said that most important thing for a captain was to be able to communicate with his players.Weird!

[Zainub]

The Spin is Guardian Unlimited's weekly Newsletter. I'm suscribed to it, every week Lawrence Booth gives an insight into the top cricket news that week, last Tuesday he talked about England tour of SA and regarding certain dressing room secrets revealed by Michael Slater in the Australian cricket magazine inside edge. I thought some of you might be interested in reading this.

Originally Posted by Lawrence Booth

The Spin has always been a little suspicious of the Aussie mateship ethic. Surely there are one or two in the dressing-room who curse every time they get a mouthful of Jason Gillespie's mullet. Or who are genuinely aggrieved that Darren Lehmann envelops the beer-filled esky in his bear-like embrace whenever he is waiting in the pavilion. Or who became repulsed by the way Steve Waugh treated his Baggy Green like a delicate child. On the contrary, claim the mateship ethicists: all for one and one for bloody well all! Michael Slater, it seems, is not so sure. Slater was a thrilling opener who might have been an all-time great had he not been born in Australia (yes, he won 74 Test caps, but the last of them came at the ripening age of 31), and would have scored 23 Test centuries had he not been dismissed nine times in the 90s. Now he has poured his heart out to Inside Edge magazine, claiming that the Australian dressing-room contains "a lot of egos", and that "there are a couple in that side who can get away with more than others". The Spin is not one to name names; it merely hopes that Matthew Hayden was not reading. For the first time, Slater speaks out about the malicious internet rumour which suggested that he had fathered Adam Gilchrist's first child, a wholly false whisper that brought back unpleasant memories of a story about Great Grandma Spin and the chimney-sweep. "That was the worst thing, that was almost the end for me," said Slater, referring to the infant Gilchrist rather than the soot-encrusted street-urchin. "It was the sickest thing I have ever read but it tarnished our friendship forever. We all know there was nothing in it but so many people read it." And Slater makes a revealing comparison between the two captains he spent most of his Test career under - Mark "Tubby" Taylor and Steve "Tugga" Waugh. "Tubby was the best captain for me. Apart from the obvious," he went on mysteriously, "he was a good player, he was a great person and he was a great communicator. I've always struggled with insecurities. Tugga just wasn't a natural person with communication and that just wasn't the best thing for me." But what of his other team-mates? Surely it was fun and games and Pom-bashing all the way? Er, not quite. "There are a lot of egos in that team," declared the man who once customized the number-plate MS356 for his Ferrari and tattooed 356 on his ankle, only to discover that he was in fact the 357th player to represent Australia. "There are great guys but it is a delicate world. You've got to be toeing the line and it's no place for being too much of an individual. I believe you can be an individual in a team and be a team player. There are a couple in that side who can get away with more than others." If England can establish who Slater is talking about, the Ashes are as good as theirs.

[imaginarydiva]

"There are a couple in that side who can get away with more than others." If England can establish who Slater is talking about, the Ashes are as good as theirs." Really!I wonder who..

[vvvrulz]

Its a pity that his career got cut short by things outside cricket. He was a handy player.