New Delhi: Cricket New South Wales has revoked former Australia batter Michael Slater’s life membership and removed him from its hall of fame after his conviction in domestic violence offences.
The 55-year was voted out an ordinary general meeting on Monday as members and delegated supported a board-proposed motion to strip him of the honours he had held for nearly a decade.
Slater had made a written submission arguing to keep his life membership after being found guilty of domestic violence offences against women in 2022.
He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015 and given life membership in 2016. Cricket NSW had deliberated on punitive action for months as five women have taken out protection orders against Slater since 2016.
In 2022, a Sydney court ordered a two-year community corrections after his admissions to several offences, including common assault and attempted stalking.
His status was put up for review after a series of incidents, including pleading guilty to seven charges for a series of domestic violence offences that related to a woman in the Noosa region between December 2023 and March 2024.
The charges included two counts of choking, stalking, assault, and burglary, for which he received a suspended four-year prison term in April.
Alcoholic
“It’s obvious, Mr Slater, that you are an alcoholic. Regrettably, your alcoholism has brought an end to your profession. Your rehabilitation will not be easy — alcoholism is part of your make-up,” a judge had said during sentencing, as quoted by SYdney Morning Herald, while pointing to the former opener’s history of alcoholism as a key to his behaviour.
After a decorated career of 74 Tests, 42 ODIs and 216 first-class matches for NSW and Australia, Slater was inducted into the Cricket NSW hall of fame in 2015.
In 2001, after he was dropped from the side during an Ashes tour he became a broadcast commentator in Australia and the UK. His contract wasn’t renewed by Seven network in 2021 following domestic violation charges.