Top 10 Australian Test openers of all time 

#8 Michael Slater

Michael Slater

Before the likes of Matthew Hayden and Virender Sehwag took the attack to the opposition right from the word go, Michael Slater defined aggression while opening the batting. Often, he helped Australia get off to a brisk and solid start.

Born in a city called Wagga Wagga in NSW, Slater made his Test debut after playing just 12 first-class games. Opening the batting (on debut) at Old Trafford, he made 58 and 27. However, it was the next Test at Lord’s that cemented his place. He scored a majestic 152 as he helped Australia early lead in the 1993 Ashes.

In his first three years (1993-1995), the aggressive New South Wales opener scored heavily, averaging almost 50 in each of them. But a slump in form in 1996 led to his ouster from the team for a period of 2 years. He continued to play till 2001.

He forged a formidable opening partnership with Mark Taylor. Slater scored 14 Test hundreds in his illustrious 74-test career. In fact, he got out 9 times in the nervous 90s being only second to Tendulkar, Dravid and Steve Waugh (who got out 10 times in the 90s).

Slater scored 5312 runs at an average of 42.84 in his 8-year career.