Keith Miller was all class while batting, with a rifle like straight drive, elegant cuts and effortless pulls and sweeps © Getty Images
However, from Down Under there emerged a remarkable man who threw all such unnecessary, and sometimes even necessary, caution to wind. He was devilishly handsome with hair kept stylishly long and carelessly flicked back as he started to run in to bowl. In all respects he was throbbing with the force of life as it ought to be lived.
Keith Miller was a flame of brilliance that lit up post-War days on the cricket field. He batted with an air of gay abandon, with spectacular hitting that overshadowed an excellent technique. He bowled from long and short run ups, often peeling the gel off the batsman’s hair with a quick one from a few steps or fooling him with a slow leg-break after running in fifteen paces. And sometimes, he interrupted animated conversations in the slips to take acrobatic blinders
He flew Mosquitos, was sent on several action-filled missions, had quite a few near-death experiences, met Denis Compton, and played a lot of cricket in England. On one flight, Miller veered away from the stipulated flying formation and returned to base late because he wanted to fly over Bonn, the birthplace of Beethoven.
He scored three hundreds against England and four against West Indies. With the ball too, he singled out these two sides for his best performances. It led West Indian captain John Goddard to exclaim, “Give us Keith Miller and we'll beat the world.”
Miller ended with 2958 runs at 36.97 and 170 wickets at 22.97 from 55 Tests. The figures put him at the top of the list of all-rounders when he retired, and has been matched by only the likes of Garry Sobers, Imran Khan and Jacques Kallis since then.
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