Michael Slater : Slater feels exuberance will help opener Phil Hughes ride crest of success wave

Former Australian cricketer Michael Slater feels that exuberance will help opener Phil Hughes to succeed in South Africa, expecting that he will ride the crest of a wave into the start of his Test career, just as a young Slater did in England 16 years ago.

It was Slater’s exuberance that stood out above all else as he scored a half-century in his first Test and a big hundred in his second at Lord’s on the 1993 Ashes tour.

“It’s that high you’re running on. You’re riding the crest of a wave, living the dream, as I did when I lived my boyhood dream going to England in 1993,” The Australian quoted Slater, as saying.

“You just roll along with that energy. The excitement of takes you to another level,” he added.

Slater was 23 when he made his Test debut, but a bicycle accident at the cricket academy had hindered the beginning of his career and he had played fewer Sheffield Shield matches than Hughes.

The young NSW opener had averaged 58 in 11 Shield matches for NSW over two years with three hundreds when he was the surprise choice in 1993.

Hughes has averaged 69 across 14 Shield games over two seasons with five centuries, including 891 runs at 74 in seven games this season.

“He has played enough now to build a solid foundation. It’s his second season and he has just got on a roll and continued that right the way through. He has proved to himself that he can cut it at first-class level, and that’s the important thing,” Slater said. (ANI)

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