The Other Keith Miller

When Neville Cardus called Keith Miller "A young eagle among crows and daws",he was not a champion playing out of his class. Len Hutton once famously saidthat Miller and Denis Compton were the two cricketers he would bequeath toschoolboys yet unborn. Ray Robinson was no less effusive in his praise. "Toyoung eyes, quickest to perceive the things that make cricket, Miller is anOlympian god among mortals," said the great Australian cricket writer."Miller was one of the most volatile cricketers of any age. He would have beena far better player had he curbed his propensity and shown more judgement in hishitting. In 1948 he was the best second slip in the world," said Don Bradman.

There was an interesting anecdote related to Miller in the benefit match forCyril Washbrook in which the all-conquering Australians took on Lancashire on a"suspect" wicket of Old Trafford in 1948. The Lancashire batsmen had atorrid time against the rampaging Aussie bowlers. But Jack Ikin struggledbravely and stubbornly, irrespective of taking many blows on his body, and builtthe Lancashire innings. When he reached 99, the new ball became due, and Bradmanimmediately threw it to Miller. But Miller, who had clashed withBradman on more than one occasion on the tour, tossed it back to his captain."That guy deserves a century. I don’t want to be responsible for getting himout now," said the handsome allrounder.

Bradman called up his anothertrump-card, Ray Lindwall. Lindwall did not show any respect for Ikin’sgallantry and promptly consumed him on the same score and deprived him of adeserving hundred. It may be recalled that out of his 170 Test wickets, no lessthan 100 were batsmen ranked one to five in order. He did not believe inknocking over the tail-enders unless they happened to threaten Australia’scontrol. No wonder he took five or more wickets in a Test innings on only sevenoccasions.

There is another incident that revealed Miller’s happy-go-lucky nature. He hadmoved from Melbourne to Sydney, a ground he loved as much as Lord’s, and wasappointed captain of New South Wales. In a game at Sydney, he was late arriving,so late that he was still tucking in his shirt as he led his team out into thefield. He was halfway to the middle when he was reminded by a colleague that hehad not nominated a 12th man and there were actually 11 players following himout! "All right, one of you guys disappear," he called out without a pausein his stride.

Miller, whose appeal was his personal magnetism, who, according to Bradman, was"altogether a crowd-pleasing personality of the Jack Gregory type", had aspecial bond with the English crowds in general and those who flocked atLord’s in particular. In 1945, he scored three centuries at Lord’s alone,the first for The Dominions against England, the other two in the Victory Testseries. In fact, he seldom failed at Lord’s after that, scoring his trulyvintage Test hundred (109) there in 1953.

Miller, who piloted Mosquitoes as a flying officer and whose wartime service inEngland from 1942 to 1945, flying with the Royal Australian Air Force, seemed tohave a strong affection for many things British, including classical music andpoetry.  The friendships he made as a player lasted for life. Compton, BillEdrich and Godfrey Evans were three of his closest cricketing friends, althoughhe never had any qualms about dishing out bouncers to them, even encouraging hispartner Lindwall to do the same. Like Miller, the three also had a passion forhorse racing, which explained why the Aussie adored them as friends.

The Aussie could be generous to a fault at times. He covered England’s 1967-68tour of the West Indies as a newspaper correspondent. The ferocious CharlieGriffith was coming towards the end of his career, struggling to make any impactduring the first Test in Trinidad. In his report, Miller came down heavily onGriffith. After finishing his report, he went to the bar at Queen’s Park Oval,where Griffith was also having a drink. "Charlie, don’t read me in thepapers tomorrow," said Miller, putting a warm arm round Griffith.