Keith Miller
Australia
Personal information
Full name	Keith Ross Miller
Nickname	Nugget
Born	28 November 1919 (1919-11-28)
	Sunshine, Victoria, Australia
Died	11 October 2004 (aged 84)
	Mornington, Victoria, Australia
Height	1. The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. For the town in Argentina, see 28 de Noviembre. Events Year 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Sunshine is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Brimbank. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Events 1138 - A massive earthquake struck Aleppo, Syria. 1531 - Huldrych Zwingli is killed "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Mornington is a sea side town in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located 57 km south-east of Melbourne's central business district 88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Role	All-rounder
Batting style	Right-hand batsman
Bowling style	Right-arm fast
International information
Test debut (cap 168)	29 March 1946: v New Zealand
Last Test	11 October 1956: v Pakistan
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1959	Nottinghamshire
1959	MCC
1947/48–1955/56	New South Wales
1937/38–1946/47	Victoria
Career statistics
	Tests	First-class
Matches	55	226
Runs scored	2958	14183
Batting average	36. An all-rounder is a Cricket player who excels at both batting and bowling. Seam bowling is a phrase used for a Cricket bowling technique whereby the ball is deliberately bowled onto its seam to cause a random deviation This is a list of cricketers who have played at least one Test match for Australia. Events 1461 - Wars of the Roses: Battle of Towton - Edward of York defeats Queen Margaret to become King Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The New Zealand cricket team, also known as the Black Caps or BLACKCAPS, played their first Test in 1929-30 against England in Christchurch Events 1138 - A massive earthquake struck Aleppo, Syria. 1531 - Huldrych Zwingli is killed Year 1956 ( MCMLVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Pakistan National Cricket Team is an international Cricket team representing Pakistan. Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English domestic Cricket structure representing the historic county of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC is a private members' club founded in 1787 The New South Wales Blues (referred to as the Speed Blitz Blues for sponsorship purposes are an Australian first class cricket team based in The Victorian Bushrangers is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. Test cricket is the longest form of the Sport of Cricket. It has long been considered the ultimate test of playing ability between cricketing nations First-class cricket refers to the class of Cricket matches of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players and officially adjudged first-class by Batting average is a Statistic in both Cricket and Baseball measuring the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters, respectively 97	48. 90
100s/50s	7/13	41/63
Top score	147	281*
Balls bowled	10461	28377
Wickets	170	497
Bowling average	22. In Cricket, not out is a term used on scorecards to signify that a Batsman has not been dismissed when the Innings is finished A delivery or ball in Cricket is a single action of Bowling a Cricket ball towards the Batsman. In the sport of Cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings Meanings of wicket Set of stumps Primarily the wicket Bowling average is a Statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the Sport of Cricket. 97	22. 30
5 wickets in innings	7	16
10 wickets in match	1	1
Best bowling	7/60	7/12
Catches/stumpings	38/–	136/–
As of 19 December 2007 Source: CricketArchive

Keith Ross Miller MBE (28 November 1919 - 11 October 2004) was a famous Australian Test cricketer and a Second World War pilot. An inning, or innings, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of Sports &ndash most notably Cricket and Baseball during For other uses see Stump (disambiguation Stump is a term used in the Sport of Cricket where has three different meanings Events 324 - Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British Order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. For the town in Argentina, see 28 de Noviembre. Events Year 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 1138 - A massive earthquake struck Aleppo, Syria. 1531 - Huldrych Zwingli is killed "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Cricket is a bat-and-ball team Sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder. An all-rounder is a Cricket player who excels at both batting and bowling. ^[1] Because of his ability, irreverent manner and good looks he was a crowd favourite. ^[2] An English journalist called Miller "the golden boy" of cricket, leading to him being nicknamed "Nugget". England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland A gold nugget is a naturally occurring piece of native Gold. Watercourses often concentrate the nuggets and they are recovered by Placer mining, but they may also ^[3] He "was more than a cricketer: . . . he embodied the idea that there was more to life than cricket". ^[4]

By the time of his retirement from Test cricket in 1956, Miller had the best statistics of any all-rounder in cricket history. Test cricket is the longest form of the Sport of Cricket. It has long been considered the ultimate test of playing ability between cricketing nations Year 1956 ( MCMLVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. ^[1] He often batted high in the order, sometimes as high as number three. In Cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen go to the Crease to bat He was a powerful striker of the ball, and one straight six that he hit at the Sydney Cricket Ground was still rising when it hit the first deck of the M. Boundary has two distinct meanings in the Sport of Cricket; (i the edge or boundary of the playing field and (ii a manner of scoring The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG is a sports Stadium in Sydney. A. Noble Stand. When bowling, Miller was famous for varying his run-up, would often bowl his fastest deliveries from a short run and frequently bowled much slower balls, to surprise batsmen. Darren_Gough_bowlingjpg|thumb|250px|right| Darren Gough bowling]] In the Sport of Cricket, bowling is the action of propelling the ball toward He averaged just over three wickets per game, because he was used sparingly in his later career, due to a wartime injury. He was also a fine fielder and an especially acrobatic catcher in the slips. Fielding in the Sport of Cricket is what fielders do to collect the ball when it is struck by the Batsman, in such a way as to either In the Sport of Cricket, a slip fielder (collectively a slip cordon) is placed behind the Batsman on the Off side of the ^[5]

Miller was also a successful Australian rules footballer, and played for St Kilda and the Victorian state team. Australian (rules football, or simply known as football, footy or Aussie rules, is a Team sport played between two teams of 18 players The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed The Saints, is an Australian Football League club based in Melbourne Victoria Australia Australian rules football matches between teams representing Australian colonies/states and territories have been held since 1879 ^[6] He played 50 games for the Saints, and occasionally played in the forward line, where he kicked eight goals in one game, during 1941. The laws of Australian football describe the rules of the game of Australian rules football. Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

Neville Cardus referred to Miller as "the Australian in excelsis"; Daily Mail sportswriter Ian Wooldridge's response was "By God he was right". Sir John Frederick Neville Cardus ( 2 April 1889 &ndash 28 February 1975) was an English writer and critic best known for his writing on music The Daily Mail is a British newspaper currently published in a tabloid format Ian Wooldridge OBE ( 14 January, 1932 – 4 March, 2007) was a British sports journalist. ^[4] This status was reflected when Miller was made one of the ten inaugural members of the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame. The Australian Cricket Hall of Fame is a part of the Australian Gallery of Sport and the Olympic Museum in the Melbourne Cricket Ground. ^[6]

Early life

Born in the western Melbourne suburb of Sunshine, Miller was the youngest of Leslie and Edith Miller’s four children. Melbourne ( is the second most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 3 Sunshine is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Brimbank. He was named after the Australian pioneer aviators Ross and Keith Smith, who were in the midst of their historic flight from England to Australia at the time Miller was born. Sir Ross Macpherson Smith KBE, MC & Bar, DFC & Two Bars, AFC (born 4 December 1892 – died 13 April 1922 Sir Keith Macpherson Smith KBE, (born 20 December 1890 - died 19 December 1955) was an Australian Aviator, who In 1919 the Commonwealth Government of Australia offered a prize of £10000 for the first flight by Australians in an aircraft of British Empire manufacture from Hounslow or ^[5] Miller began his schooling in Sunshine before his family moved to the inner-Melbourne suburb of Elsternwick. Elsternwick is a residential Suburb 9 kilometres south-east of Melbourne, Australia, in the state of Victoria. He went to the local state school before transferring to Melbourne High School where the Australian Test captain Bill Woodfull was on the teaching staff. The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. William Maldon "Bill" Woodfull OBE (22 August 1897 &mdash 11 August 1965 was an Australian Cricketer He captained both Victoria and ^[7]

A small child, Miller’s major sporting aspiration was to be a jockey; he also played cricket and Australian rules football. Australian (rules football, or simply known as football, footy or Aussie rules, is a Team sport played between two teams of 18 players ^[2] At the age of 12, he played for a Victorian schoolboys cricket team captained by Merv Harvey, which played in Queensland. Mervyn Roye Harvey (born April 29, 1918, Broken Hill New South Wales, died March 18, 1995, Footscray Victoria) was an Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern corner of the mainland continent Joining the local sub-district cricket club Elsternwick in his mid teens, he was dropped after one match for his poor fielding. The Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association (VSDCA is a turf cricket competition based in Melbourne, Australia He then tried out with St Kilda, which could not find a place for him in any of its five teams. St Kilda Cricket Club plays the sport of Cricket in the elite club competition of Melbourne Australia, known as Victorian Premier Cricket. ^[7] Nevertheless, the former Victorian player Hughie Carroll spotted Miller’s talent and lured him to the rival South Melbourne club. The Victorian Bushrangers is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. Eugene Vincent " Hughie" Carroll ( 17 January 1885 &ndash 18 September 1965) was an Australian Cricketer who played The Casey-South Melbourne Cricket Club is a cricket club located in the outer south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, which plays in the Victorian The prevailing zoning rules required South Melbourne to play him in their First XI or St Kilda could reclaim him, so he made his district cricket debut for South, aged 15. Victorian Premier Cricket is the elite club cricket competition in the state of Victoria (Australia, administered by Cricket Victoria. At this stage, he was just 162 cm tall — the Test batsman Keith Rigg recalls his first encounter with Miller in a district match:

He was so small he came in to bat with pads flapping around up near his waist. Keith Edward Rigg (born May 21, 1906, Malvern Victoria, died February 28, 1995, Malvern Victoria was an Australian Hans Ebeling was bowling and Keith hit him through the covers for four. Hans Irvine Ebeling MBE ( 1 January 1905 in Avoca Victoria – 12 January 1980 in Melbourne) was an I thought, ‘Crikey, who’s this kid?’ ^[7]

Between seasons, Miller underwent a sudden growth spurt; on his return to South Melbourne he was unrecognisable to his club teammate Lindsay Hassett. Arthur Lindsay Hassett MBE (28 August 1913&ndash16 June 1993 was a Cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia. Miller eventually reached 188 cm in height, thwarting his ambition to be a jockey although he never lost his love for the racetrack. ^[7] This increase in size enabled Miller to generate greater power in his strokes when batting. In a match against Carlton, captained by his schoolmaster Woodfull, Miller scored 61. Carlton Cricket Club is a Australian Cricket team that competes in the Victorian Premier Cricket competition This prompted Woodfull to give him a silver eggcup as a memento, one of the few trophies from his sporting career that he kept in later life. ^[8]

Miller spent the 1937–38 season with the VCA Colts and won the team’s batting trophy. The VCA Colts cricket team competed in the Melbourne district cricket competition between 1929&ndash30 and the start of World War II. ^[7] Late in the summer, he made his first-class debut as an 18-year-old and hit 181 against Tasmania at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. First-class cricket refers to the class of Cricket matches of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players and officially adjudged first-class by The Tasmanian Tigers are the official first-class Cricket team of Tasmania, Australia. ^[9] In 1938–39, he rejoined South Melbourne and played four first-class matches for Victoria, scoring 125 runs at an average of 25. During the next two seasons, his nine first-class appearances were unremarkable; he scored only one further century. ^[10] He achieved more success as a footballer after following his brothers Les and Ray in joining the Brighton Football Club in the VFA. Brighton Football Club were an Australian rules football club which played in the VFA. History The Victorian Football Association (VFA was founded in 1877 on 17 May. ^[7] In a match against Coburg, he played an outstanding defensive game on the greatest forward of the era, Bob Pratt. The Coburg Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Coburg, a northern suburb of Melbourne, and currently playing in the Victorian Bob Pratt (31 August 1912 &mdash 6 January 2001 was a former Australian rules footballer from Mitcham Victoria. This led to his signing by St Kilda in the VFL, the game’s premier competition. The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed The Saints, is an Australian Football League club based in Melbourne Victoria Australia The Australian Football League (AFL is both the professional Australian national competition in the Sport of Australian Rules Football and its highest Miller debuted for the Saints in 1940, playing at full back. The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed The Saints, is an Australian Football League club based in Melbourne Victoria Australia ^[11] Switched to the forward line the following year, he booted 28 goals in 16 games ^[12] and then played a handful of matches in the 1942 season before he began his active war service.

War service

As was the case with many of his contemporaries, Miller's sporting career was interrupted by the Second World War. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including On 20 August 1940, almost a year after war broke out, Miller joined the Militia (army reserve), and was assigned to the 4th Reserve Motor Transport Company. Events 636 - Battle of Yarmouk: Arab forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid take control of Syria and Palestine Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Army Reserve is a collective name for the reserve units of the Australian Army. ^[13] During the same period, he worked in the spare parts section of a motor dealer, then as a customs and shipping agent, and later with the Vacuum Oil Company. Vacuum Oil Company was a Petroleum company in the United States founded in 1866 ^[14] He left the Militia on November 8, 1941. ^[13] Miller and a friend then attempted to join the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The Royal Australian Navy ( RAN) is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. When the navy would not take his friend, Miller left the recruiting office, walked around the corner to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) recruiting office. The Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF) is the Air Force branch of the Australian Defence Force. ^[14] On January 30, 1942 he was called to active service by the RAAF. Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. ^[15] He trained at flying schools at Cunderdin, Western Australia and Mallala, South Australia, and was posted to Europe in January 1943. Cunderdin is a town located in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia 156 km east of Perth, on Great Eastern Highway. Mallala is a small town about 75 kilometres north of Adelaide in South Australia.

He served primarily with No. 169 Squadron RAF, in the UK, as a pilot of Mosquito fighter-bombers. No 169 Squadron RAF was formed at Twinwood Farm, on June 15 1942 as a tactical reconnaissance squadron equipped with North American Mustangs The squadron moved The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Ground-attack aircraft are military aircraft designed to attack targets on the ground and are often deployed as Close air support for and in proximity to their own ground forces Miller had several narrow escapes, and injured his back when making a belly landing, after one of his plane's engines failed, an injury that was to impact on his cricket, and particularly his bowling during his subsequent cricket career. ^[2] When asked in an interview many years later by Michael Parkinson, about pressure on the cricket field, Miller famously responded, "Pressure is a Messerschmitt up your arse; playing cricket is not". Sir Michael Parkinson, CBE (born March 28 1935) is an English broadcaster and Journalist. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout ^[16]

One of Miller's closest friends was an English cricket star, Denis Compton. Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE (23 May 1918 in Hendon, Middlesex – 23 April 1997 in Windsor, Berkshire) was an English They first met in India during the war, in a match at Calcutta between an Australian armed forces team and East Zone. For usage see British rule in India British Raj ( rāj, lit "reign" in Hindustani) primarily refers to the British The East Zone cricket team is a first-class Cricket team that represents eastern India in the Duleep Trophy. During East Zone's second innings, play was interrupted by rioting, including a pitch invasion, with Compton's score on 94. One of the rioters ran up to him and said: "Mr Compton, you very good player, but the match must stop now". ^[17] In later years, Miller would quote this remark whenever Compton came to the crease in matches featuring both of them. For the goalie's crease in hockey see Goal area. In the Sport of Cricket, the crease is the area demarcated by white In 2005, the ECB and Cricket Australia decided that the player adjudged the Player of the Series in the Ashes would be awarded the Compton-Miller Medal, recognising their friendship and rivalry. The England and Wales Cricket Board ( ECB) ( Bwrdd Criced Cymru a Lloegr) is the governing body of Cricket in England and Wales. Cricket Australia, formerly known as The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The 2005 Ashes Series in England saw the inauguration of the Compton-Miller medal for the Ashes Man of the Series award ^[18]

Compton (l) and Miller (r)

Post-war sporting career

Miller plays an on drive for Victoria

After the war ended, Miller resumed playing cricket in the Victory Tests, in England, during 1945. The Victory Tests were a series of Cricket matches played in England from May 19 to August 22, 1945, between a combined England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland

Miller returned to Australia in late 1945 after almost six months of continuous cricket for the Australian Services team in England and then the Indian subcontinent. Upon returning to Australia, Hassett’s men were informed by the military and the Australian Board of Control that the Services were to play a further six first-class matches against the state teams. Miller was tired but the fixtures were meant to revive cricket following the war and were also used as a lead-up to the international tour to New Zealand in March 1946. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island ^[19]

Miler started his campaign for Test selection when the servicemen arrived in Perth and played their first match against Western Australia. The Western Warriors (referred to as Retravison Warriors for sponsorship reasons are an Australian first class cricket team based in Perth, Western Australia Miller put in his best batting performance of the season with an 80 in a drawn match, before being rested in the match against South Australia. The Southern Redbacks are an Australian first class cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia. ^[19] Miller finally returned to his home town on January 2, 1946 and was reunited with family and friends before taking on Victoria. Events 366 - The Alamanni cross the frozen Rhine River in large numbers invading the Roman Empire. Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. ^[20] Miller top-scored in both innings with 37 and 59 as the military men fell to an innings defeat. ^[21] Miller and the servicemen had another difficult time against New South Wales, as they made 7/551 and Miller went wicketless. The New South Wales Blues (referred to as the Speed Blitz Blues for sponsorship purposes are an Australian first class cricket team based in ^[21] Miller faced his biggest challenge in Australian conditions in his quest for Test selection when he went out to bat. The Australian selectors had not been in England for the Victory Tests to witness his ability and Miller had not played to his potential on Australian soil.

He was pitted against Bill O’Reilly, the leg spinner regarded as the best bowler in the world, and Ray Lindwall, an emerging bowler of express pace, the fastest in Australia. William Joseph "Bill" O'Reilly, often known as Tiger O'Reilly, (born 20 December 1905 in White Cliffs New South Wales; died 6 October 1992 in Sydney Leg spin is a style of Spin bowling in Cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a Wrist spin action causing the ball to spin anti-clockwise at the point Raymond Russell Lindwall (October 3 1921 - June 23 1996 was a Cricketer who represented Australia in 61 Tests from 1946 to 1960 ^[22] Miller was on 74 as Services limped to 9/171. With only one partner left, Miller attacked and scored 31 of the last 33 runs, ending with an unbeaten 105, and earning plaudits among cricket pundits on Australian soil. ^[22] Former leading Test batsman Alan Kippax opined that "Australia has unearthed a new champion",^[23] claiming that he was finer than Jack Gregory and saying that "few batsmen I have watched have had his ability to blend beauty and power". Alan Falconer Kippax (25 May 1897 – 5 September 1972 was a Cricketer for New South Wales (NSW and Australia. Jack Morrison Gregory ( August 14 1895, North Sydney, New South Wales - August 7 1973, Bega New South Wales) ^[23] O’Reilly said that Miller’s century was "one of the best hundreds ever got against me". ^[23] Miller compiled 46 in the second innings before being bowled by O’Reilly as the Servicemen fell to another innings defeat. Miller finished the AIF season with 4/49 in a drawn match against Queensland and a pair of fifties against Tasmania. The Queensland Bulls are the Brisbane -based Queensland representative Cricket team in Australia's domestic cricket tournaments Sheffield The Tasmanian Tigers are the official first-class Cricket team of Tasmania, Australia. ^[23]

At the end of the season, Miller was selected for the New Zealand tour, under the captaincy of Queensland’s Bill Brown. William "Bill" Alfred Brown OAM (31 July 1912 &ndash 16 March 2008 was an Australian Cricketer who played 22 Tests between 1934 and 1948 ^[24] Miller started the tour well, top-scoring with 139 against Auckland. The Auckland Aces are one of six New Zealand First class cricket teams that make up New Zealand Cricket. ^[25] Along with seven other debutants, Miller made his Test debut in the match against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, a match that was retrospectively accorded Test status in 1948. The New Zealand cricket team, also known as the Black Caps or BLACKCAPS, played their first Test in 1929-30 against England in Christchurch The Basin Reserve (commonly known by locals as " The Basin " is a Cricket ground in Wellington New Zealand, used for Test, first-class Wellington (ˈwælɪŋtən is the Capital of New Zealand, the country's second largest urban area, the ^[26] On a sticky wicket, New Zealand won the toss and batted. "Sticky Wicket" was episode twenty-one of the first season of the TV series M*A*S*H. Miller was not required to bowl in the first innings as O’Reilly and the medium-pace of Ernie Toshack skittled the home side for 42. Ernest Raymond Herbert Toshack (8 December 1914&ndash11 May 2003 was an Australian Cricketer who played in 12 Tests from 1946 to 1948 ^[26] Australia made 8/199 with Miller scoring 30. He was allowed to take the new ball in the second innings with Lindwall,^[27] starting a new ball partnership that was regarded as one of the finest of all time. Miller took 2/6 in six overs before a flare-up of his back injury forced him to be removed from the attack. Australia bowled their hosts out for 54, securing an innings victory. ^[28]

Miller, in the vertically-striped jumper, playing for St Kilda

Miller returned from New Zealand to play in what turned out to be his last season in the VFL, in 1946. He was immediately recalled to the first team. ^[29] Miller played with more aggression than his pre-war years, as the pains of contact sport had now become trivial to what he experienced in the war years. Miller performed prominently for St Kilda, who came second last; his high leaping marks were a noted feature of a season that saw him chosen for the Victorian team to play South Australia. Miller became one of the few players to play at the highest levels of both cricket and Australian rules football. ^[30]

Miller sporting a cut nose during a football match

Miller was discharged from the RAAF on June 26, 1946,^[30] and returned to his job at Vacuum Oil, something which he resented. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian is killed during the retreat from the Sassanid Empire. Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Miller was upset that many of his colleagues had avoided the hazards of war and moved steadily up the ladder and regarded his job as demeaning, having spent a year being paid to play cricket for the military. ^[31] Under such circumstances, Miller contemplated quitting Australian cricket and accepting a contract from Rawtenstall in the Lancashire League, valued at £1,000 per year for three seasons. Honours 1st XI League Winners - 7 - 1894 1904 1922 1926 1976 1981 1982 Worsley Cup Winners - 4 - 1976 1985 The Lancashire League is a competitive league of local Cricket clubs drawn from the small to middle-sized mill towns mainly but not exclusively of East Lancashire With advertising and commercial commitments, this could triple his annual income to £3,000 per year, approximately ten times more lucrative than his income playing in Australia. ^[31] Many of his colleagues in the Services team had likewise abandoned Australia and returned to the scene of their triumphs in 1945, where greater financial stability beckoned. ^[24] On the flipside, Miller was worried that his impulsive nature and style in which he played could be curtailed by the pressures of professional performance. Miller was almost 27 and knew that the contract would see him in England until he was 30, effectively ending his career for Australia. Furthermore, it would have prevented him from playing Australian football during the winter. ^[32] Despite this, Miller was feeling glum about his job in Melbourne, and signed the contract that tied him to Rawtenstall starting in April 1947. ^[33]

Miller and his family

In the meantime, Miller had the upcoming Test series against England in 1946–47 to look forward to. He also approached his employers for two months leave without pay so that he could travel to the United States to get married to his long-time girlfriend. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the They refused, saying that he had been away during the war. Miller decided that he had enough money to live until he went to England in the autumn, so he resigned his job in August. ^[33] Miller left Australia at the end of the football season in late August, amid press speculation that he might not return. ^[34] Miller was reunited in Boston with Peg after more than three years of separation and they married in Massachusetts on September 21, 1946, with Miller wearing his RAAF uniform. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. Events 1217 - The Estonian tribal leader Lembitu of Lehola was killed in a battle against Teutonic Knights. Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Miller and his new bride returned to Australia in October. In the meantime, his contract with Rawtenstall became public news and he was threatened with his Test career being terminated. The Board of Control’s policy stipulated that any player that signed with a professional league in England could not represent Australia. ^[35]

Miller and Morris walk out to bat for New South Wales

Miller had only been back in the country a week when he faced Wally Hammond’s touring Englishmen in a tour match for Victoria. Walter Reginald "Wally" Hammond (born 19 June 1903 in Dover, Kent, died 1 July 1965 in Kloof KwaZulu-Natal His fielding and batting were rusty after the long layoff and the media constantly probed him as to whether he was going to fulfil his contract with Rawtenstall. Miller said nothing in public, but the Victorian Cricket Association made public appeals for someone to give Miller a job so that he would not leave Victoria and become a professional in England. Cricket Victoria (CV is the governing body for the sport of Cricket in the Australian state of Victoria. ^[36] Miller was selected for an Australian XI fixture against the tourists prior to the Test series, but made only 5 and bowled only four overs. ^[36] In a Shield match in front of Bradman at the Adelaide Oval, Miller struck 188, with a wide array of strokes, leading the Adelaide Advertiser to describe it as "dashing and colourful". The Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia. The Advertiser is a daily tabloid Newspaper published in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. ^[37] He went on to take 2/32 with the ball and was back in form. Bradman saw Miller as a top-order batsman and as his new ball partner for Lindwall, although Miller was a reluctant bowler. Bradman felt that Miller was crucial to his strategy of attacking England’s strong batting line-up and the likes of Hammond, Compton, Hutton, Edrich and Washbrook with high pace. ^[38]

Miller made his Ashes debut the day after his 29th birthday in the First Test in Brisbane. Brisbane ( is the state capital of Queensland. Brisbane is the third most populous city in Australia and the most populous city of Queensland Miller was slated to bat at No. 5 and Bradman fielded six front-line bowlers, with Miller, Lindwall, Colin McCool and Ian Johnson all scoring centuries at first class-level^[39] Australia batted first but Miller was not needed until day two, coming in after Bradman was dismissed for 187 with the score at 3/322. Colin Leslie McCool (9 December 1916 – 5 April 1986 was an Australian Cricketer who played in 14 Tests from 1946 to 1950 Ian William Geddes Johnson CBE (8 December 1917 &ndash 9 October 1998 was Miller was asleep when the wicket fell, but played aggressively to reach his fifty in just 80 minutes before lunch. He struck one onto the roof of the members' stand at long-on, the biggest hit at the ground at the time. However after the lunch break, Miller slowed down and was trapped leg before wicket by Doug Wright, ending his first Test innings at 79. In the Sport Cricket, leg before wicket (LBW is one of the ways in which a Batsman can be dismissed. Doug Wright is an award-winning American Playwright, Librettist, and Screenplay writer ^[40] Australia reached 645 on the third day before a tropical storm hit. Miller was given the new ball along with Lindwall and he took his first Ashes wicket, bowling Hutton as England closed at 1/21.

The following day, the pitch had dried out under the sun and turned into a sticky pitch. Miller bowled at medium pace with off breaks and mixed in a large amount of bouncers, leading Jack Fingleton to compare the amount of high-paced short-pitched bowling by the Australian pair to that during Bodyline. In the Sport of Cricket, a bouncer (or bumper) is a type of delivery, usually bowled by a fast bowler. John Henry Webb Fingleton OBE (born 28 April 1908 in Sydney; died 22 November 1981 in Sydney) was an Australian Cricketer turned political and For information about the British code name "Bodyline" for the WWII V-2 rocket, see Operation Crossbow. ^[41] On the uneven surface, Edrich was struck around 40 times on the body. Miller cut down the English top order, removing Edrich, Washbrook, Compton and Jack Ikin on the fourth morning to leave England at 5/56. John Thomas Ikin (born March 7, 1918, Bignall End, Staffordshire, died September 15, 1984, Bignall End Staffordshire Miller went on to finish at 7/60 as England made 141 and were forced to follow on. Follow-on is a term used in the Sport of Cricket to describe a situation where the team that bats second is forced to take its second batting innings immediately after Miller removed Hutton again, this time in the first ball of the innings. Another rain-affected pitch saw England reduced to defeat by an innings and 334 runs. Miller ending with match figures of 9/77. ^[42][43] His highly productive Ashes debut led to further speculation as to whether he was willing to end his Test career to turn professional. Miller continued to not answer Rawtenstall’s requests for confirmation and refused to comment to the media, hoping that he would get a better job offer in Australia. ^[42] Miller continued to the Second Test in Sydney, where he had a quiet match, scoring 40 and taking one wicket on a spin-friendly pitch as Australia took another innings victory. Sydney (ˈsɪdniː is the most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 4 ^[43][44]

The 1948 "Invincibles" en route to England. Miller is the partially-obscured figure, standing with his hands on the shoulders of the man in front (Lindsay Hassett). Arthur Lindsay Hassett MBE (28 August 1913&ndash16 June 1993 was a Cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia.

Miller saved his best batting for the Shield clash with arch-rivals New South Wales after the Second Test. He hammered three sixes from one over against Test team-mate Toshack and made 153 in a 271 run partnership with Merv Harvey in just over three hours, setting up an innings victory. Mervyn Roye Harvey (born April 29, 1918, Broken Hill New South Wales, died March 18, 1995, Footscray Victoria) was an Miller’s childhood hero Bill Ponsford said that it was the hardest hitting he had ever seen. William Harold Ponsford ( 19 October 1900 &mdash 6 April 1991) was a Cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia ^[45] The Third Test was Miller’s first in front of his home town. He had a mediocre game in a drawn match, scoring 33 and 34, and taking two wickets. ^[46] Miller’s uncertain future continued to dog him, with Rawtenstall expressing their displeasure at Miller’s apparent recanting of his contract. Miller had privately decided that he would not go through with the deal, but was refusing to inform the Lancastrian club. In the meantime, he had various job offers, which he spurned until he received an offer from the manager of North Sydney, offering to help him relocate to Sydney to work as a liquor salesman, with time off for sport. North Sydney District Cricket Club is a cricket club in Sydney, Australia. ^[47] Miller was back in a good frame of mind for the Fourth Test in Adelaide. In a high-scoring match, Miller took a wicket in each innings,^[43] but he shone with the bat. After England had made 460, Miller came in at 3/207 late on the second day.

On the first ball of the third morning, he hooked the ball into the crowd, landing just in front of the Governor’s VIP box to move to 39. He quickly accumulated another 61 runs in 71 minutes to reach his maiden Test century. Miller did not open up after reaching triple figures, as wickets fell around him and the Englishmen utilised leg theory to prevent scoring. Leg theory is a bowling tactic in the Sport of Cricket. The term leg theory is somewhat archaic and seldom used any more but the basic tactic As the tail fell apart, Miller accelerated again, launching drives into the crowd as England stationed four men on the fence waiting in vain to catch one of his drives. Miller ended unbeaten on 141 as Australia took a first innings lead but the match petered into a high-scoring draw. ^[48] Before the last Test, Miller played for Victoria against England in what was to be his final match for his home state before moving to New South Wales. He took 4/65, his best bowling since the First Test. ^[49]

The Fifth Test saw Miller take a wicket in either innings, leaving Australia with a target 214 runs on a wearing wicket. McCool joined Miller after the loss of 3/21 in quick succession with Australia at 5/180. ^[50] Wright then beat Miller with three consecutive leg breaks, before he struck back against Alec Bedser with consecutive boundaries and together with McCool saw Australia to the target. Sir Alec Victor Bedser, CBE, (born 4 July 1918) was a professional English Cricketer chairman of selectors for the English national ^[51] Australia had taken the series 3–0, with Miller scoring 384 runs at 76. 80 and took 16 wickets at 20. 88, which placed him second in both batting and bowling to Bradman and Lindwall respectively. ^[51] Nevertheless, Miller did not enjoy himself as much as during the Victory Tests and became disillusioned with Bradman’s strategic mentality. Miller was impulsive and cared little for records or ruthlessly dominating his opponents; he loved to play in a flamboyant manner with early declarations to keep the match alive and less concern for winning or losing. Hassett had outlined in 1945 that the post-war era should be about "cricket, not war". ^[52]

However, Test cricket had always been fought fiercely, and the ruthless Bradman was not about to change this. Bradman repeatedly shut England out of the game with massive totals, relentless snuffing out any prospects of an English win rather than maximising the chances of an Australian victory with enterprising declarations. ^[44] For the 1946-47 season, Miller transferred to the New South Wales (NSW) team and played the remainder of his Sheffield Shield career with it. The New South Wales Blues (referred to as the Speed Blitz Blues for sponsorship purposes are an Australian first class cricket team based in He was a key member of Donald Bradman's famous Invincibles touring party, which was undefeated on its tour of England in 1948. Sir Donald George Bradman, AC (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001 often referred to as The Don, was an Australian Cricketer widely The Australian cricket team in England in 1948 was captained by Don Bradman, who was making his fourth and final tour of England Year 1948 ( MCMXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

Miller played 55 Test matches for Australia, retiring after the tour of England, Pakistan and India in 1956. He retired from NSW after the 1958-59 season.

Keith Miller

Later life

After retirement, Miller "remained in the public eye. . . ", not least for "unsubstantiated rumours of an affair with Princess Margaret". ^[4] He made a living as a journalist and columnist, employed by the Daily Express as a "special cricket writer" for twenty years. The Daily Express is a conservative Middle-market British Tabloid Newspaper. He later worked for Vernons Pools, owned by the millionaire racing identity, Robert Sangster. Robert Edmund Sangster ( 23 May 1936 - 7 April 2004) was a well-known English Thoroughbred Racehorse owner and breeder ^[53] However, Miller "was happiest at the cricket or at the races". ^[4]

Miller's later life was plagued by ill health; "Life exacted its tolls; he suffered cancer, had a hip replaced, part of an ear removed and at length was wheelchair-bound". ^[2] He accepted these vicissitudes equably; "Some grieved to see him reduced, but not him; these were life's deliveries. He knew only that one would get him out eventually. Asked at 75 about death, he said: "Never think about it. No regrets. I've had a hell of a good life. Been damned lucky". ^[2]

Keith Miller died in October 2004 after being in poor health for some time. ^[4]

Playing style

Miller playing a cut shot

Miller combined classy strokeplay with big hitting, his front foot play especially devastating. He had a rifle like straight drive, played pull and sweep shots with a minimum of effort and was able to cut elegantly. He combined this elegance with unorthodoxy, hitting two sixes over square leg with a backhand tennis shot and once beginning the day's play in a Test match with a six. Boundary has two distinct meanings in the Sport of Cricket; (i the edge or boundary of the playing field and (ii a manner of scoring ^[5] Len Hutton said he was "the most unpredictable cricketer I have played against". ^[2]

As a bowler, Miller had a classically high arm action, moving the ball sharply either way and able to make the ball rise from a good length. He was often able to generate more pace than his new ball partner, Lindwall. He was always willing to try something new if the batsman were set, varying his approach from fifteen paces to five and vice-versa. A round arm delivery often managed to capture a wicket, surprising the batsman. ^[5] His use of bouncers at Trent Bridge during the 1948 tour was seen by the English crowd as excessive, who booed him. In the Sport of Cricket, a bouncer (or bumper) is a type of delivery, usually bowled by a fast bowler. Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County Cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, Miller simply sat down until the barracking had subsided. He was often required to bowl through pain, pressing a disk into place at the base of his spine before sending down the next delivery. ^[4]

He was an acrobatic slips fielder, who would take freakish catches with nonchalant ease, often immediately returning to his discussion with those around him as if nothing was unusual. ^[5] Miller often required a contest to retain interest in the game. At Southend in 1948, as the Australians scored a record 721 runs in a single day against Essex, Miller, coming in to bat when the score was 2/364, allowed himself to be bowled first ball. Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English domestic Cricket structure representing the historic county of ^[4] Indeed, he "turned to the wicketkeeper and said: "Thank God that's over". "^[2] He never captained Australia, as his attitude to the game tended to alarm the authorities. About Miller, Ashley Mallett wrote, "He loved tradition, but hated convention. Ashley Alexander Mallett (born 13 July 1945 in Chatswood New South Wales) was an Australian Cricketer who played in 38 Tests and 9 One Day Internationals His unstructured way of playing and living would be anathema to cricketers now. . . He played as he fought the war, by impulse and mood. ^[2]

Personality

A larger than life character, Miller was the subject of many stories, often apocryphal. One story had Don Bradman answering a knock on the door late one night to see Miller dressed in a dinner suit. Miller advised Bradman that, as demanded, he was in bed at curfew and was now going out. ^[2] His relationship with Bradman was one riddled with friction and mutual antipathy, ". . . one a roundhead of massive influence, the other a cavalier and maverick". As Bradman moved from batting hero and team captain to selector and administrator, his influence grew; this ". . . almost certainly cost Miller any chance of captaining his country". ^[53]

He sometimes set his field by saying to his players: "scatter". On another occasion, he is reported to have said, after being told that NSW was taking the field with one player too many: "I say, will one of you chaps piss off?".

One night, following a duel with Messerschmitts in his Mosquito, he made an unauthorised detour over Bonn because it was Beethoven's birthplace and he was a lover of the classics. Messerschmitt AG was a famous German Aircraft manufacturer known primarily for its World War II Fighter aircraft, notably the Bf 109 WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located about 20 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia Ludwig van Beethoven ( English ˈlʊdvɪg væn ˈbeɪtoʊvən, 16 December 1770 &ndash 26 March 1827 was a German Composer and Pianist. ^[2] Despite his fame, Miller remained a humble man; when asked his favourite cricketing memory, he would recall no incident concerning himself, but "a South Australian team-mate walking onto Lord's to a thunderous ovation a few weeks after his release from a POW camp". ^[2] The cricket broadcaster, John Arlott said "that for all the glamour that attached to Miller, he was staunch and unaffected as a friend". Leslie Thomas John Arlott ( February 25, 1914 &ndash December 14, 1991) was a freelance author whose main subjects were sport and wine a poet ^[2]

When asked how he managed to take seven wickets for just 12 runs against South Australia, Miller replied,

Legacy and statistical analysis

Keith Miller's Test career batting performances

Miller's achievements were recognised by a host of awards during his lifetime and posthumously. One of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1954,^[55] Miller was also one of the ten inaugural inductees into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 1996. The Wisden Cricketers of the Year are Cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, based primarily on their Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) The Australian Cricket Hall of Fame is a part of the Australian Gallery of Sport and the Olympic Museum in the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) ^[6]

He is also one of only four Australian cricketers, (the others being Bradman, Victor Trumper and Shane Warne) to be honoured with a portrait in the Long Room at Lord's in London. Victor Thomas Trumper (born 2 November 1877 in Darlinghurst, Sydney, New South Wales, died 28 June 1915, Darlinghurst Shane Keith Warne (born 13 September 1969 is a former Australian international Cricketer who is widely regarded as one of the Lord's Cricket Ground (generally known as Lord's) is a cricket London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. ^[56][53][57]

In 1956, as a result of injuries sustained by team-mates, Miller, aged 36, was forced to shoulder the burden of the bowling in the Lord's Test. He bowled more than 70 overs in the match, taking five wickets in each innings. Miller had scored 109 in the 1953 Lord's Test, and remains the only man to have his name on both the batting and bowling honours boards in the visitors' dressing-room there. ^[4]

Miller's abilities as an all-rounder led to enormous success as both batsman and bowler. The ICC player rankings have been applied retrospectively to cricket history and Miller achieved top ten rankings with both bat and ball. The ICC Player Rankings are a widely followed system of rankings for international Cricketers based on their recent performances As a batsman, he peaked at ninth in the world in 1952, and was a top 20 player from shortly after début and for the rest of the duration of his career. ^[58] Miller's bowling abilities led to even greater success. By the end of 1946, he was already ranked sixth in the world and thereafter never slipped lower than ninth; for much of his career, he was the second best bowler in the world according to the ratings, remarkably, for a 36-year-old, peaking at the number 1 slot for a few months in 1956. ^[59] As an all-rounder, therefore, it is unsurprising to find that he was peerless for most of his career, ranked as number 1 in the world for most of his career, including an unbroken eight year run from June 1948 until his retirement. ^[60]

Miller's statistics are an inexact measure of his worth to the side. Many of the Australia teams he played in featured very strong batting line-ups, restricting his opportunities as a middle-order player. His verve and enthusiasm were also important contributors to Australian success, as was his ability to produce the unexpected (particularly with the ball) and help break partnerships.

Footnotes and citations

External links

• Cricinfo, 2007, "Keith Miller" (player profile)
• AFL Statistics: Keith Miller
• Brydon Coverdale, "Australia's Winter Allrounders: XI Test Cricketers who played Australian Rules football at the highest level", Cricinfo, 28 May 2007
• Craig Baum, "Death of a hero" (Sydney Morning Herald, October 11, 2004)
• Australian War Memorial (no date), "Keith Nugget Miller"
• ABC Radio National (transcript) "The gods created Keith Miller...then threw the mould away." (The Sports Factor, October 15, 2004)