Former cricket star Michael Slater arrives at Noosa court to face assault, obstruct police charge

Australian cricket great Michael Slater has addressed his ‘ongoing battle’ with mental health after pleading not guilty to assaulting a police officer at Noosa in March.

Australian cricket great Michael Slater has pleaded not guilty at his first appearance in court after being charged with assaulting a police officer.

The 53-year-old has been charged with one count of assault police and two counts of obstruct police, following an incident at Noosa Heads on Friday, March 31.

Police will allege officers were called to a Noosa Heads address around 11pm due to a medical incident

Police will allege Slater allegedly assaulted police around midnight, with one officer alleged to have suffered a small cut to his hand. No-one else was injured.

Slater arrived at Noosa Magistrates Court on vespa-style scooter this morning.

In court Magistrate Chris Callaghan asked Slater what he wanted to do with the charges.

Former Australian cricket star Michael Slater has spoken about his mental health battles outside court in Noosa. Picture: MATRIX

“Well my plea is not guilty but I’m under instruction by my lawyer to get an adjournment,” he said.

His Toowoomba-based lawyer was not in court.

The parties are waiting for a forensic psychologist’s report, the court heard.

The matter is expected to be mentioned at Noosa court again on July 4.

Slater, who played 74 Tests and 42 one-day internationals for Australia between 1993 and 2001 before moving into television commentary, was previously charged in May of 2022 with assault and stalking/intimidating a woman, while charges relating to a separate incident in 2021 were dismissed on mental health grounds.

Outside court on Tuesday morning, Slater said the incident was an “unfortunate situation” during a mental health episode.

He said he was focused on the future, and that moving to Noosa has been “very positive”

“It was an unfortunate situation that evening where it was a welfare check on my mental health,” he said outside court.

“I had a good friend reach out ,the police were doing their job and they came to the door and I was really startled and sort of tried to refuse them entrance to my apartment and that’s basically the amount of it.

“The ambulance then came, I spent the night in the hospital under observation and then everything’s sort of back on track.”

Michael Slater during his playing days in 1999. Picture: Colleen Petch

Slater, who has been open about his struggles with mental health, said it had taken its toll over the years and he had worked hard to improve it.

“There’s a lot of channels out there for those suffering but when you’re in the pit of mental health it takes a lot of motivation and get up to get out that door and go and seek that help and sometimes you do need that intervention,” he said.

“It’s been a very positive move coming up to this part of the world but unfortunately about a month ago I had a dip which was triggered by a few personal matters but .. you know I‘ve work so hard at my mental health, it’s been an ongoing battle for a number of years, I mean I’ve lost a lot in the last couple of years.

“It’s been highly embarrassing I suppose on a personal level to undergo everything’s that happened. I’ve made some mistakes and I think there have been some mistruths as well. But we fight hard to get on top of things and life’s not easy but I’ve got three beautiful kids where my focus is and looking for a job.”