1970 THIS DAY, THAT YEAR

The birth of one of the most destructive and self-destructive batsmen of the modern era. When Michael Slater laced an enchanting 152 at Lord's in his second Test, in 1993, he looked at home in cricket's big league. Alongside fellow Wagga Wagga boy Mark Taylor, Slater smacked a staggering seven hundreds in his first 16 Ashes Tests, at such a rate as to define not only the tempo of a game but the series as well - remember that 176 at the Gabba in 1994-95? But Slater's career was been riddled with paradoxes. Despite his destructive style of batsmanship, he played more Tests than one-dayers, and after a classic assault on Darren Gough in the opening exchanges of the 2001 Ashes, he fell by the wayside.