OTD: One-day debuts for Michael Slater and Glenn McGrath in 1993

Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa participated in the 1993-94 Benson and Hedges World Series triseries. The first match saw Australia clash with South Africa at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Melbourne on December 9, 1993.

This match marked the ODI debuts of Australia’s future stars Glenn McGrath and Michael Slater as well.

Australia captain Allan Border won the toss and chose to bowl first. Michael Slater had an excellent ODI debut for Australia, scoring 73 runs in 69 balls, hitting eight fours and one six. He added 105 runs for the first wicket while opening with Mark Taylor, who made 30 runs.

Australia made 189 runs in 45.5 overs, with Steve Waugh making 33 and Ian Healy making 21*. For South Africa, Fanie de Villiers took 3/30 and Hansie Cronje took 2/42.

In response, South Africa lost Andrew Hudson early for four runs. But Captain Kepler Wessels made 70 in 118 balls with four fours, while Hansie Cronje made 91* in 147 balls with five fours to his name. The duo added 140 runs for the second wicket while Jonty Rhodes made 20* in 16 balls, as South Africa won by seven wickets, achieving the target in 48.4 overs.

For Australia Craig McDermott took two wickets, while Shane Warne took one scalp. Debutant Glenn McGrath went wicketless in his first outing, going for 28 runs in his spell of 8.4 overs.

Slater went on to have a quite successful career for Australia. He made 5312 runs at an average of 42.83 in 73 Tests, including 14 centuries and 21 fifties, with the highest score of 219. He also played 42 ODIs, scoring 987 runs with nine fifties to his name and a best score of 73. He had also played for Australia in the 1996 World Cup.

Coming to McGrath, he retired as an all-time great of the game. He picked 563 wickets in 124 Tests, with the best bowling figures of 8/24 at an average of 21.64. McGrath picked 381 wickets at an economy of 3.88 in 250 ODI matches, including the best bowling figures of 7/15.

McGrath won three ICC World Cups with Australia in 1999, 2003, and 2007 and retired as the highest Test wicket-taker among fast bowlers.

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