Editing Michael Slater (section)

==Early life==

=== Family life and education ===
Slater was born in [[Wagga Wagga]], [[New South Wales]], and lived in both Wagga and [[Junee]] for his childhood. His parents, Peter<ref name="Slaterix">Slater and Apter (2005), p. ix.</ref> and Carole and two older siblings had emigrated from the north-eastern coast of England in 1966 to [[Launceston, Tasmania]], Australia where his father taught high school agriculture and science.

After three years, the family moved and his father became a teacher in agriculture at Wagga Wagga Agricultural College.<ref name="Slater9&10">Slater and Apter (2005), p. 9–10.</ref> Slater's mother left the family in 1983, when he was just 12 years old. He later wrote about tough personal times that followed, claiming that his education standards slipped after his mother left the family and that sport became the "only thing [he] could focus on properly". However, it was later revealed that Slater suffers from [[Bipolar disorder|manic depression (bipolar disorder)]]. He has claimed that school bullying accentuated his academic difficulties in Years 9 and 10 and claimed that he once ran home after it was suggested that some bullies "were planning to get [him] after school".<ref name="Slater22&23">Slater and Apter (2005), p. 22–23.</ref>

=== Early cricket career ===
Slater wrote: "My family was always involved in sport, so from an early age it just seemed natural for me to play any game that was on offer."<ref name="Slater10">Slater and Apter (2005), p. 10.</ref> When aged 11, Slater was selected in the New South Wales Primary School Sports Association cricket and hockey teams. He also made the state under-12 hockey team in 1981 and went on to be selected in the Under-13, -15 and -17 hockey teams.<ref name="Slater18">Slater and Apter (2005), p. 18.</ref> Slater wrote that, in his early teenage years, he turned towards cricket.

Slater joined an inner-western [[Sydney]] Under-16 side over a Christmas holiday to further develop his cricketing career. After topping the batting averages in the Under-17s, in the following season, he was chosen as captain of the New South Wales Under—16 team. The carnival was not a success for him but his team performed "well".<ref name="Slater26-29">Slater and Apter (2005), p. 26–29.</ref> Slater claimed that he hurt his [[Achilles tendon]] in an accident at school when he was seventeen and played a couple of hockey games following the accident but limped off the field and subsequently had surgery in the lead-up to the Under-17 national cricket carnival. Slater claimed he was informed that, because of his injury, his "dream of playing cricket for Australia was over".<ref name="Slater30">Slater and Apter (2005), p. 30.</ref> However, after an operation, he returned to cricket and was selected in the Under-19 state team for the national championships in [[Brisbane]]. He attended the [[Australian Institute of Sport]] [[Australian Cricket Academy]] in 1989.

After an injury to the captain, Slater captained the state under-19 team but he and his team under-performed.<ref name="Slater31">Slater and Apter (2005), p. 31.</ref> The following year, he was vice-captain for the Under-19 carnival in [[Canberra]] and scored a century in the opening match. In a victorious final against Victoria, Slater scored another century, becoming one of the leading run-scorers in the series.<ref name="Slater34-35">Slater and Apter (2005), p. 34–35.</ref>