Top 5 Australian Test opening pairs of all time

#3 Mark Taylor and Michael Slater

The contrasting style of Taylor and Slater worked out well for Australia

The opening pair of Michael Slater and Mark Taylor proved again how contrasting styles of play can work magic as a team.

Slater was a player well ahead of his time, as he adopted a fearless approach against the new ball and with much success, scoring 5312 runs from 74 Tests at an average of above 42.

Taylor meanwhile was very conservative in his approach to the game and also had the added responsibility of captaining the side to deal with.

Over a 7-year span from 1993 to 1999, the pair scored 3887 runs from 78 innings at an average of 51.14 with ten 100+ run partnerships.

Five of the ten 100+ partnerships has come in Ashes Tests, with the pair scoring 1735 runs from just 30 innings at an average of 57.83.