Australian cricket fans have seen a lot of Michael Slater this summer. In a mildly amusing advertisement for new Test sponsor Orange which seems to have been screened between every over of the summer's Tests, he has been appearing alongside the Waughs and Michael Bevan extolling the virtues of a mobile phone deal. A call from Australia's selectors, however, has not been forthcoming; indeed, with Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer harmonising as openers, it has seldom seemed likely.

A call on January 22 then brought Slater even more unwelcome news: that he had been dumped from the New South Wales Pura Cup team to play Victoria, with no prospect of an immediate remission. A runaway leader in the competition's early stages, New South Wales had slumped to fourth after four consecutive defeats, Slater's 257 first-class runs in 11 innings having been an index of the decline. Two state selectors had witnessed his double failure against South Australia in Adelaide and agreed with chairman of selectors John Benaud and coach Steve Rixon that it was time to invest in talent less mercurial.

Benaud described Slater as "sadly out of touch". The adjective was well-chosen. Slater, whom Steve Waugh said was "clearly devastated" and "in shock" after losing his Test place at The Oval in August last year, shrank further from view after his demotion. Slater's grade club, University of New South Wales, announced his withdrawal from their subsequent match against Fairfield-Liverpool: it was advised that Slater needed "a short break from the game". It had best not be overlong – Slater turns 32 on February 21 and will need everything to go right if he is again to kiss a baggy green.

Slater's fall has been interpreted in Australia as a cautionary tale of modern sport. There has been talk over the years that he is rather too enamoured of the trappings of his reputation – the flash houses, fast cars and media deals – and too little concerned with how he earned it and might live up to it. He became disgruntled in January 2000 when overlooked for the New South Wales captaincy in favour of the inexperienced Shawn Bradstreet and withdrew in annoyance from an inter-state game at Adelaide.

His life then seemed to take a more indulgent turn last year, with the disintegration of his eight-year marriage and the affectation of a Superman tattoo on his shoulder, homage to rock idol Jon Bon Jovi. Yet Slater could in all likelihood have enjoyed every aspect of the Bon Jovi lifestyle if he had not started batting like him as well. In domestic cricket this season Slater has looked like an accident waiting to happen, incapable of sustaining his concentration beyond a few overs. Bon Jovi's Living On A Prayer has more than once come to mind – for the wrong reasons.

Slater has, of course, known selection disfavour and accusations of impetuosity before. His 74 Tests were interrupted by an 18-month hiatus from November 1996, and his career breaks into two near-symmetrical halves: part one featured 2,655 runs with seven hundreds, part two 2,657 runs with seven hundreds. During part one, however, his runs were coming at a robust 47; during part two, his average was a shakier 39, and Slater knows that state and national selectors will need a lot of convincing to commission a further sequel.

In his 1997 autobiography he remarked: "There is no selfishness within the Australian team but, at the same time, each guy must be mindful of his career and often he does not think whether a team-mate needs support. For a lot of the time you have to sort the problems out yourself. And if you can't do that, you're not going to make it."

This article appears in the March issue of Wisden Cricket Monthly, on sale priced £2.95 now. To subscribe to Wisden cricket Monthly, click here.

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