Keith Miller

For other people named Keith Miller, see Keith Miller (disambiguation).

Keith Miller
AM MBE
Miller reading Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 1951
Personal information
Full name
Keith Ross Miller
Born(1919-11-28)28 November 1919
Sunshine, Victoria, Australia
Died11 October 2004(2004-10-11) (aged 84)
Mornington, Victoria, Australia
NicknameNugget
Height6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm fast
RoleAll-rounder
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 168)29 March 1946 v New Zealand
Last Test11 October 1956 v Pakistan
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1937/38–1946/47Victoria
1947/48–1955/56New South Wales
1959MCC
1959Nottinghamshire
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class
Matches 55 226
Runs scored 2,958 14,183
Batting average 36.97 48.90
100s/50s 7/13 41/63
Top score 147 281*
Balls bowled 10,461 28,377
Wickets 170 497
Bowling average 22.97 22.30
5 wickets in innings 7 16
10 wickets in match 1 1
Best bowling 7/60 7/12
Catches/stumpings 38/– 136/–
Source: CricketArchive, 19 December 2007

Keith Ross Miller AM MBE (28 November 1919 – 11 October 2004) was an Australian Test cricketer and a Royal Australian Air Force pilot during World War II. Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder.[1] His ability, irreverent manner and good looks made him a crowd favourite.[2] English journalist Ian Wooldridge called Miller "the golden boy" of cricket, leading to his being nicknamed "Nugget".[3]

A member of the record-breaking Invincibles, at the time of his retirement from Test cricket in 1956, Miller had the best statistics of any all-rounder in cricket history.[4] He often batted high in the order, sometimes as high as number three. 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 upper deck of the grandstand. Miller was famous for varying his bowling to bemuse batsmen: he made sparing use of slower deliveries and would often adjust his run-up, surprisingly bowling his fastest deliveries from a short run. He was also a fine fielder and an especially acrobatic catcher in the slips.[5]

Away from cricket, Miller was also a successful Australian rules footballer. He played for St Kilda and was selected to represent the Victorian state team. He played 50 games for St Kilda, for whom he kicked eight goals in one game against North Melbourne, during 1941.[6]

Miller's personality – love of the contest, rather than victory, and his larger-than-life rebelliousness and carousing – helped both shape and limit his cricketing career, as he espoused the opposite of the more puritanical values of Donald Bradman, his captain and later national selector. Neville Cardus referred to Miller as "the Australian in excelsis"; Wooldridge's response was "By God he was right".[7] This status was reflected when Miller was made one of the ten inaugural members of the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.

  1. ^ Brett, Oliver (11 October 2004). "Australia's greatest all-rounder". BBC. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  2. ^ Baum, Greg (11 October 2004). "Death of a hero". The Age. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  3. ^ "Keith Ross Miller, MBE (1919–2004)". Australian War Memorial. Archived from the original on 19 September 2008. Retrieved 5 February 2009.
  4. ^ Brett, Oliver (11 October 2004). "Australia's greatest all-rounder". BBC. Retrieved 2 February 2009. By the time Miller had retired after 55 tests, he had the finest all-round record in cricket history, with statistics that were only beaten in later eras. The second man, Wilfred Rhodes, was 663 runs and 43 wickets behind him
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pollard was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ The Argus 25.08.1941 p. 8
  7. ^ "Players and Officials – Keith Miller". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 5 February 2009.