Keith Nichol Slater (born 12 March 1935) is a former Western Australian
cricketer
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
and
West Australian Football League
The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...
(WAFL) player.
Cricket career
In cricket, Slater was an all-rounder who played in only one
Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to:
* Test cricket
* Test match (indoor cricket)
* Test match (rugby union)
* Test match (rugby league)
* Test match (association football)
...
, against
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
in 1958–59, but he played 67
first-class matches for Western Australia between 1955 and 1968. He had his best batting season in 1963–64, scoring 655 runs at an average of 38.52, and scored his only century, 154 against
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
, when he opened the batting and helped Western Australia avert defeat. His best bowling season was 1960–61, when he took 30 wickets at an average of 32.43. He toured New Zealand with the
Australian team in 1959-60, playing in two of the four matches against
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
.
His international career was shortened by doubts over his
bowling action
In the sport of cricket, the bowling action is the set of movements that result in the bowler releasing the ball in the direction of the batsman.
The bowling action can be broken down into a number of parts:
* Grip
*Approach
*Bound (pre deliv ...
. Slater wasn't selected for the
1961 Ashes tour of England, even though he had been widely expected to go. The chairman of selectors,
Don Bradman
Sir Donald George Bradman, (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 has bee ...
, explained it to him as a policy of the
Imperial Cricket Conference
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are 108 national associations, with 12 Full Members and 96 Associate Members. Founded in 1909 as the '' ...
to exclude bowlers with doubtful actions. He later showed Slater a film of his bowling to illustrate.
Slater was indeed called for throwing while playing against
New South Wales
)
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, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
in 1964–65.
Australian rules football career
Slater was a star
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
for
Swan Districts and
Subiaco and played in the 1961
WANFL
The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September ...
grand final
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...
with Swans against
East Perth
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sunrise, Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from ...
and his display in containing
"Polly" Farmer won him the
Simpson Medal
The Simpson Medal is an individual prize awarded for Australian rules football in Western Australia. The medal has been donated by Dr Fred Simpson and family since 1945.
Simpson Medals are currently awarded to the following players:
*The best pla ...
in a huge upset victory. He continued to play for Swans for the following two seasons before Subiaco, who had between 1947 and 1956 constantly occupied the bottom two places with Swans and whose president Frank Exell had approached Slater a season before, lured him as their captain-coach after two disappointing seasons.
In Slater's first season the Maroons made only their fourth open-age finals appearance
since 1936, but were unexpectedly defeated by the equally unsuccessful
Claremont in a rainy first semi-final. The following two seasons proved very disappointing, with the Maroons winning only eight games in 1965 and six (plus one draw) in 1966, when they lost their last nine matches. This led to questioning of Slater's coaching methods, notably his taking the Maroons on a trip to
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
during the 1964/1965 off-season, and his contract was not renewed for 1967. Slater returned to Swan Districts for 1967 but retired following that season.
Later life
After he retired from playing, Slater ran a sports store, Slater Gartrell, in Perth, and was also a television and radio sports commentator.
He was appointed a
Member of the Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...
in the
2020 Australia Day Honours
The 2020 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2020 by the Governor General of Australia, David Hurley.
The Australia ...
for "significant service to cricket, Australian rules football, and baseball, in Western Australia". He was awarded the
Australian Sports Medal
The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...
in 2000.
See also
*
*
One Test Wonder
In cricket, a one-Test wonder is usually a cricketer who is only selected for one Test match during his career and never represents his country again. This is not necessarily due to a poor performance and can be for numerous reasons, such as injur ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slater, Keith
1936 births
Living people
Australian cricketers
Australia Test cricketers
Western Australia cricketers
Cricketers from Perth, Western Australia
Swan Districts Football Club players
Subiaco Football Club players
Subiaco Football Club coaches
West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees
Australian rules footballers from Perth, Western Australia
Members of the Order of Australia