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Keith Miller dies aged 81

age_master

Hall of Fame Member
Keith Miller, one of the game's greatest allrounders, died today at a nursing home on the Mornington Peninsula, south of Melbourne.

Miller played 55 Tests for Australia, scoring 2,958 runs at an average of 36.97 and claiming 170 wickets at 22.97 after making his debut in 1945-46.

A gifted allround sportsman, he played 50 VFL games for St Kilda and represented Victoria in 1946. He was also a World War II fighter pilot.

After retiring, he spent 20 years as a cricket writer and was later awarded an MBE for his services to the sport.
 

telsor

U19 12th Man
Definately one of the great allrounders the game has seen.

His exploits off the cricket ground were also extremely impressive, both in other sports ( his affinity for horse racing amoung others ) and socially, where by the stories one hears, he was extremely welcome in all stata of society.

A gentleman and a champion.
 

JASON

Cricketer Of The Year
What a sad loss of a great cricketer, a true legend , and a great character and personality and (reading from various sources) a person who enjoyed life to the full.



Here is the profile from Cricinfo and a tribute written by John Arlott.


Profile:Named for two famous aviators and himself a wartime bomber pilot, Keith Ross Miller handled bat and ball with the same abandon as a barnstormer did a joystick. Len Hutton called him "the most unpredictable cricketer I have played against". A commanding batsman from the first, whose 185 for the Dominions against England at Lord's in August 1945 awoke observers to a special talent, he flowered into a fast bowler still capable, at 36, of taking ten wickets in a Test on the same ground. Lounging deceptively, he was also an outstanding slip fielder. No cricketer was so heedless of figures, few personalities so naturally engaging, although the Australian Board considered his mercurial temperament unsuited to the national captaincy. Neville Cardus thought him, nonetheless, "the Australian in excelsis".Gideon Haigh

June 1987



Miller the magnificant

Arguably the greatest Australian allrounder © The Cricketer


Keith Miller was arguably the greatest Australian allrounder; perhaps appreciated even more in England than in his own country. Here he became both a cricketing hero and a popular human being; for it is important to realise that, outstanding as he was at cricket, the game was for him only a part of living life as fully as a man might do. At home, though, he tended to find officialdom petty; and certainly it took its toll of him, above all by denying him the captaincy of Australia for which he was so well-qualified. There is, though, no great point in arguing a case for so well-loved a player; and indeed no-one ever needed it less.

He still comes to England to go horseracing (he physically grew out of his childhood ambition to become a jockey), though that, too, is for him only part of the scene he had come to like well. His Christian names – Keith Ross – date his birth: he was named after the pilots, Sir Keith and Sir Ross Smith, on Nov 28, 1919 while they were making history with their 27-day flight from England to Australia.

First sight of him – with no knowledge of his cricket – was as a young Australian air-force pilot at a hectic night party in Brighton during the war. His vitality then, as ever since, was immense. He has remained a man of character, humour and, as some may not always realise, strictness in human relations. It was, indeed, what he considered pettiness on the part of officialdom in Australia after his war service that drove him to his few – but fierce – protests. He played first for his native Victoria– 18 matches between 1937 and 1946–47: sheer economic necessity first drove him to New South Wales, for whom he played 50 matches between 1947–48 and 1955–56, captaining them during his later years. With his natural capacity for surprise, in 1959 he turned up at Trent Bridge to play for Nottinghamshire in a single match against Cambridge University, when he scored 62 and 102 not out, with 13 fours and two sixes in his century.

He was a genuine allrounder: as a batsman he could command; but he could relax and lumber. All his life, he rose to a challenge: he scored a century – 181 – on his first class debut. If he was a spectacular driver – and indeed he was – he was also a most delicate cutter, even of legspin. As a bowler he was usually categorised as fast medium; but he could at moments bowl even faster than his comrade-in-arms, Ray Lindwall; and more than once in a Test match, off a full run, he sent down a perfect length googly. In a match against Yorkshire on a turning pitch during the 1948 tour, he proved extremely effective as an offspinner (6 for 42 and 3 for 49); after which he made top score in a struggling innings. He had a poised and not unnecessarily long run, yet from time to time he would bowl at his fastest off a half-length approach. He moved the ball sharply off the seam and could make it lift quite alarmingly from only fractionally short of a length. All this is the more amazing for the fact that he first established himself in Australian State cricket as a batsman. Then, simply enough, in a Services match, he was thrown the ball to come on as fifth change and emerged forthwith as a natural pace bowler. In the field he was utterly brilliant; amazingly fast and nimble at cover-point for one over 6ft tall; and probably the finest slip fielder of his time, again an amazingly swift and lithe mover for his size.



He moved the ball sharply off the seam and could make it lift quite alarmingly from only fractionally short of a length © The Cricketer


With that Service side, the English public discovered him, and he made a glorious 185, at faster than a run a minute, for a Dominions XI at Lord's. When he returned with Bradman's side of 1948, England relished him in almost everything he did. This was true post-war cricket and Keith Miller rose to the occasion. In only the second match of the tour – against Leicestershire– he struck a most splendid 202 not out. In the very next match, he bowled out Yorkshire with those offspinners; and then made top score. In the first Test, with Lindwall injured and unable to bowl, Miller picked off the best of the England batting. At Leeds when, in the face of England's first innings of 496, Morris, Hassett and Bradman were hustled out for 68, it was Miller who settled in with Harvey to revive their batting. At The Oval, when Hutton and Crapp threatened to build a stand, it was Miller who came on to break the partnership. Yet, against Essex at Southend, on that same tour, when the Australians were making the highest total ever scored in a six-hour day of cricket, Miller simply pulled his bat out of the course of a straight ball from Trevor Bailey and allowed himself to be bowled. That tour established him in English cricket imagination and he has never fallen out of it. He came to England again in 1953 and 1956; in fact he was an Australian regular for some 10 years.


In his first Test against England– Brisbane 1946–47– he followed his 79 with a first innings 7 for 60; in the fourth made his first Test hundred – 141 not out. For that series he finished second in the batting to Don Bradman (384 runs at 76.80) and second to Ray Lindwall in the bowling with 16 wickets at 20.87. He rarely failed to make an impression on a match when the situation was tense and important; if it did not challenge him, he did not give a damn.

In 1950–51 he bowled crucially and batted quite magnificently at Sydney. In 1953, he made a significant 109 at Lord's. In West Indies, 1955, he made three hundreds and finished with an average of 73.16, including 147 at Kingston, his highest Test score, and 137 at Bridgetown.

He was the last man to care about figures but they must be adduced here to show his immense quality. Realise that, just after the start of his career, he lost five years to the Second World War and retired early – at 37 – after sustaining an injury in India. Yet when he left, after only (by modern standards) 55 Tests, he had the finest allround record in cricket history to that time. The second man, the monumental Wilfred Rhodes, no less, was 663 runs and 43 wickets behind him. In all cricket Keith Miller scored 14,183 runs at 48.90, with 41 centuries; took 497 wickets at 22.30, and held 136 catches. As a bowler in Tests, when he rose to the heights of his cricket, he took 170 wickets at 22.97 and made 2958 runs at 36.97, with seven centuries, plus 38 catches, many of them spectacularly prehensile.

He has been a happy man as a journalist, never forgets his friends and never misses a good party. Let no-one think, however, that this is simply a light-hearted partygoer; Keith Miller is a loyal and loving – but still humorous – family man; compassionate, kind, for all his humour. Perhaps of all the great cricketers he suffers fools, if not most gladly, most easily of all. Above all, he has produced much of the most exciting firstclass cricket – batting to beat the bowler; bowling to defeat the best of batsmen on good wickets; and plucking unbelievable catches out of the air.


© Wisden Cricket Monthly 1987
 

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Simon

Request Your Custom Title Now!
another one of those players you just wish you got to see play....

Nice little post there Jason, i enjoyed it....
 

SJS

Hall of Fame Member
Other than Sir Garfield, the greatest all rounder the world has ever seen.

He could have played for any country in the world as a pure batsman OR as a pure bowler. There are not many for whom this has held true for their entire careers.
 

SJS

Hall of Fame Member
Mister Wright said:
Sad loss for Australian and World cricket. A great player.

R.I.P.
I last saw him on film during the Centenary test. I remember thinking how dashing he must have looked when younger. His bowling action, follow through, with his thick shock of hair flying had a dash of its own.
 

Spetsnatz

School Boy/Girl Cricketer
I heard he was once asked: Do you feel any pressure out in the middle.

His reply: Pressure is a Messerschmitt 109 up your ****.
 

FRAZ

International Captain
^Always remember your elders in a good manner . The dead are supposed to be remembered in a good manner ....
 

Dasa

International Vice-Captain
^Yeah I really liked how they did the tribute to him - sensitive and very interesting...
 

Sussexshark

Cricket Spectator
I too was very sad to hear of his passing. It took me back to 1956, Laker's year, when the BBC used to do actual commentaries of tourist and county matches. Can't remember who were playing the Aussies, but they got KM out for a duck. I let out such ashout that my parents came rushing into the room wondering what the matter was. 'Keith Miller's out FOR A DUCK' I yelled triuimphantly. Hey, I was only 9 years old. I soon got to respect the man for his attitude to the game, and now I wish more modern-day cricketers had the same approach.

God bless, you Keith

Peter
 

JASON

Cricketer Of The Year
This report of Miller's State Funeral Service at St.Paul's Cathedral in the Herald Sun, first and The Age next.


Well played, and well lived Keith Miller
Ron Reed
21oct04


KEITH Miller's four sons carried their famous father's coffin out of St Paul's Cathedral and into Swanston St yesterday to be confronted by hundreds of people applauding.

That's when it got to the youngest one, Bob, 48.
"I cried when I saw that," he said, having regained his composure over a beer or two at the official wake in the Miller Room at the MCG.

Keith Ross Miller – cricket legend, football star, larger-than-life "hero even of the heroes," as broadcaster and old mate Tony Charlton described him in the main eulogy – was farewelled in great style after dying at 84 early last week.

The service, featuring tributes from Charlton, former Test captains Richie Benaud and Ian Chappell, the late Sir Donald Bradman's son, John, Cricket Australia chairman Bob Merriman and Miller's second wife Marie, resonated with the admiration and esteem that became a common denominator with everyone he ever met.

The Prime Minister, who is overseas, sent a note. So did the Governor General. The pews in this enormous church were packed with big names from many branches of elite Australian sport, politics, the media – you name it.

But of the many talents for which Miller was famous, his common touch was one of the most important.

In his prime, indeed for many years past it, he partied with royalty, regarded one of the world's richest men, John Paul Getty, as a close mate, and yet happily bought beers in public bars for garbos, flower-sellers and anyone else who looked as if they might enjoy a drink and a chat. He was the people's champion.

That's what hit home outside the church with the boys – Bill, 57, Peter, 55, Denis, 53, and Bob – who have thrown heavily to the sire: they are likeable, popular knockabouts.

Keith was named after the pioneering aviators, Keith and Ross Smith, and, true to form, he adopted his own colourful method of identifying his boys.

Bill was named after Bill Young, who flew with Miller during the war and was killed in action at 19. "****y Bill from Broken Hill", Miller dubbed him, but he didn't forget to make the trip to the remote mining town to meet his parents after the war.

Peter was born while his father was batting in the South African city of Pietermaritzburg.

Denis was named after his father's great mate and fellow bon vivant, the gifted English batsman and soccer player, Denis Compton.

And Bob? "I was named after mum's gynaecologist, a bloke named Robert Highan."

As cricket historian Gideon Haigh observed: "It doesn't sound like he was the sort of bloke to pore for hours through books of baby names!"

The sons are the product of a 60-year marriage between Keith and their mother, Peg, who died a year ago, about the time their father married again and moved back from Sydney to his native Melbourne.

That upheaval generated its fair share of tension, with the boys effectively estranged from their father for a couple of years.

But yesterday – even though none of the four was invited to speak at the church – was no time for negativity.

"We're pretty philosophical," Denis had told this column the day after his dad's death, and outside the church he had a tear in his eye as he embraced Marie.

Much interest centred on John Bradman's speech, given that his own iconic father and Miller have always seemed to speak ambiguously about their relationship.

The younger Bradman made it clear that they certainly were not enemies, and his father had enormous admiration for Miller the cricketer, and regarded him as a firm supporter.

He said the similarities between the two men ran more deeply than any differences, in that they both played cricket for the sheer love of it.

The funeral party adjourned to the MCG, where Marie laid a wreath at the foot of the statue of Miller in fast-bowling pose, which the sons were seeing for the first time.

That imposing work of art is one reason why Benaud was right when he said Miller's name will live as long as cricket exists. But an even more important reason is the way Miller related to people, whoever they were.

RIP K. R. Miller. Well played. And more importantly, well met and superbly lived.





Just a few tears as Miller's tale celebrated
By Greg Baum
October 21, 2004



[Richie Benaud and Keith Miller's widow, Marie, at yesterday's service. "I was blessed to meet him, privileged to take care of him, and honoured to be his wife," Mrs Miller said.]


Welcomed to the state funeral for Keith Miller at St Paul's yesterday were representatives of the Governor-General, the Prime Minister and the Premier. The Governor was there in person, with four Australian captains, three of the six surviving Invincibles and a Brownlow medallist - and Tom Portelli, the Melbourne Cricket Club barman for 39 years.

As eulogist Tony Charlton observed, they knew each other well. Among the official well-wishers were eminences of cricket, football, golf and racing, but also Les Fehr, a one-time cleaner at the MCG and a stalwart of South Melbourne Cricket Club for whom Miller interrupted the unveiling of his statue at the MCG last year so they could exchange greetings.

Charlton said Fehr had put a flower in the hand of the Miller statue last week.

Legendary English jockeys Scobie Breasley and Ron Hutchinson came, and so did an anonymous Englishman who had thrilled to see Miller play in 1948 and thought it only proper that he fly out to bid him farewell. England and racing were always close to Miller's heart.

Miller's funeral was a stately affair in a grand cathedral, but it was also a faithful celebration of the life of a big-hearted man who never forgot a name or a courtesy, a man who looked up to no one, but down on no one.


Miller's generous spirit was as much abroad in death as in life. Politicians of opposite bents stood together, as did players of far-apart generations.

Ian Chappell, a long-time critic of Sir Donald Bradman, stood side by side with John Bradman, Sir Donald's son.

John Bradman said Miller had been a personal friend since childhood, when he had been stricken by polio, and he was speaking yesterday at Miller's behest.

He said his father had had a warm place in his heart for Miller, whom he had found steadfastly loyal.

"Keith stuck up for him through thick and thin," John Bradman said. Miller and Bradman twice swapped caps, gaining for each a better fit at the time, but delivering to auction houses a nightmare when trying to establish their provenance recently.

John Bradman said Miller was a man's man who nonetheless expressed friendship more openly than any other man he had known.

There were many mourners at Miller's funeral, but few tears, and fewer regrets. Miller's was a life lived. Tales were legion, and as Richie Benaud noted - upturning the old axiom - for once you could believe everything you read.

Charlton, the veteran broadcaster and close friend, told of how Miller turned his back on the navy when it refused to enlist his mate, and joined the air force instead, and so was a fighter pilot born.

He also told of a latter escapade when a Concorde pilot of Miller's acquaintance spotted him by chance in London, and so it was that Miller found himself later that day in New York.

Returning the same day, he had difficulty explaining to customs why he had no luggage, but two bottles of duty-free spirits.

Benaud said Miller was Australia's greatest all-rounder, and "the finest captain never to lead Australia".

Some would remember Miller in silence, said Benaud, and some with a raised glass and a simple toast: "Thanks, Nugget."

So it was in the Keith Miller Room at the MCG an hour later, and probably today at The Oval, in London, where there is also a room named after him.

Ian Chappell told of how Miller had been his hero, of how he had flicked back his hair in the Miller manner when preparing to bowl in the backyard, and of his heartache to see Miller dismissed for 99 in an Ashes Test in Adelaide. "I think I was more distraught than Keith himself," he said.

"The greatest thing I can say about Keith Miller is that I had a boyhood idol who lived up to my lofty expectations."

Marie, Miller's second wife, who nursed him through his last illness, spoke of a man who had remained true to his motto: "Be yourself."

"I was blessed to meet him, privileged to take care of him, and honoured to be his wife," she said. "He was, is and always will be, the love of my life." Miller was proud of his cricket exploits, but did not belabour others about them.

Charlton said that on Miller's mantelpiece on the Mornington Peninsula were only two trophies. One was a crystal bowl to mark his induction into the international hall of fame. The other, the size of an eggcup, was to mark a heroic feat of resistance for South Melbourne against Carlton when he was 16. It was the prize he cherished most.

Miller touched the lives of the thousands he met, and the millions he did not. His portrait hangs with Sir Donald's in the Long Room at Lord's, the only two Australians so honoured.

Australian Cricket Board chairman Bob Merriman said Miller had inspired the current presidents of the West Indies and South African boards to pursue lifetimes in cricket.

When his death was announced, a minute's silence was, of course, observed in Chennai, where Australia was playing India, but also in Lahore, where Pakistan was playing Sri Lanka.

Miller's four sons were among the mourners, also seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, the newest only months old.

The service began with the national anthem, but most of the music was by Bach and Beethoven, Miller's favourites. Trinity schoolboy Hamish Beeston recited Miller's favourite poem, Composed upon Westminister Bridge, by William Wordsworth.

Soloist Suzanne Shakespeare sang "Sheep May Safely Graze", from a Bach cantata.

The service ran nearly an hour over time, for Miller's was a life that could not be compressed, nor its memory hurried.

Mourners emerged into a sun-blessed Melbourne afternoon, just in time for the running of the Geelong Cup. Miller would have liked that.

The cortage moved with a police ****** to the MCG, where Marie laid a wreath beneath the statue of Miller in a simple ceremony.

Then all adjourned to the Miller Room, where great and small, mighty and humble, celebrated as one.
 

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