Slater ready to let bat do the talking

Garrulous opener has been doing his homework

If Channel 4 finds Michael Slater helping to batter England in a one-sided Ashes series this summer, they will have only themselves to blame. For ratings reasons as much as patriotism, the channel would like a closer contest than pundits and bookmakers are predicting. But in engaging the garrulous opening batsman from Wagga Wagga for the first part of the summer, they handed him an opportunity not only to study the opposition at close quarters, but to practice in English conditions again six weeks earlier than would otherwise have been the case.

Left out of the recent triangular series, he would in normal circumstances have arrived, like the other reinforcements (Justin Langer, Simon Katich and Colin Miller) only a fortnight ago, with minimal preparation time before the Ashes series began. Instead, he has watched England in the two Tests against Pakistan and then the one-day matches, met up with his team-mates and got his eye in nicely.

"My preparation's been outstanding," he said. "I've been analysing the game on TV as well as having a lot of outdoor nets with proper bowlers, whereas at home all I could expect was probably being indoors with the bowling machine. It was always going to be hard for the other guys who've only just come out and I don't think that's ideal. Now I'm looking forward to stopping talking about it and getting my pads on for my country again."

Not that the talking has stopped altogether: Slater will be summoned to the commentary box at regular intervals during the series for a chin-Wagga Wagga, when it will again be interesting to observe the resolution of conflict between his loyalty to team members and a natural outspokenness. The latter quality is one that appeals to Gary Franses, Channel 4's executive cricket producer, who gave him a debut last summer. "We'd heard Michael on Channel 9 in Australia and took a bit of a punt on him," he said. We needed one extra person and he knew England well, having played at Derbyshire, and had done a bit of commentary and interviewing. He's uninhibited and opinionated, and he's entertaining. And he's part of it, isn't he?"

He certainly should be, unlike the 1997 series, when Matthew Elliott was preferred as Mark Taylor's partner in all five Tests and Slater's contribution to the tour was five matches and a top score of 47. That did not stop Derbyshire engaging him for the following two summers, in which he was regarded, Wisden recorded, as "an exemplary overseas player" in every respect except achieving the weight of runs expected from an Australian batter.

He will also put to good use the opportunity of having seen more of the current England side than other Australians have done: "I can shed some light on people like [Marcus] Trescothick and [Michael] Vaughan, so I'll be helping out with that." He is impressed with the Somerset opener, admiring "simplicity in his technique" and will suggest to his team-mates that they should not be deceived by England's wretched performances in the one-day games: "Look, they lost two important tosses under the lights, and I think one-dayers and Tests are very different. In the last 18 months a side that's always promised potential has started to bring it through and win Test matches. There's been good leadership, with Nasser Hussain getting his teeth into the captaincy, and a fantastic coach-captain relationship with Duncan Fletcher. You've also got a combination in Gough and Caddick that's up there with the best in the world."

Respect for England does not, however, extend to talking down Australia's prospects, even after the extraordinary defeat in Calcutta three months ago that ended their record-breaking run of victories: "We're quietly confident. We've played some good consistent cricket for a long time now and the slight hiccup in India will stand us in good stead because we had a very competitive series. Winning becomes a habit and you feed off that energy of winning and the success of your team-mates."