Name:

Miller, Keith R

Nickname:

Nuggett

Date of Birth:

28 Nov 1919

Gender:

Men

Place of Birth:

Sunshine, VIC

Date Died:

11 Oct 2004

Career:

Test: 1946 - 1956

Teams:

NSW (Regional)
Australia (Country)

Nugget: The best ever Aussie All-rounder

Keith Miller: Dashing allrounder, cut above the best

Born : 28 November 1919 at Sunshine, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Died : 11 October 2004 at Mornington, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Keith Miller was a dashing, match-winning, all-rounder who was a great crowd-pleaser. A powerful right-handed middle-order batsman he was capable of a delicate late-cut. He had a classic high bowling action and could produce genuine pace when the mood took him. He shared a famous and destructive opening bowling partnership with Ray Lindwall.

He was also an effective slip fielder. In the Ashes series against England in 1946/47 he scored 384 runs at an average of 76.80 and took 16 wickets at 20.87.

Miller earned his nickname when an English journalist called him "the golden boy" of cricket, leading to him being labelled "nugget".

A member of the recordbreaking Invincibles team of 1948 by the time of his retirement from Test cricket in 1956 Miller had the best statistics of any allrounder in cricket history. He often batted high in the order sometimes as high as number three.

When bowling Miller was famous for varying his runup; he would often bowl his fastest deliveries from a short run. He was also a proponent of the sparing use of slower deliveries to surprise batsmen. He was also a fine fielder and an especially acrobatic catcher in the slips.

He played 55 tests scoring 2958 runs and took 170 wickets.

He was at his best in tough match situations and famously made a duck when the Australians scored 721 in a day against Essex in 1948 as he was said to be bored. He became a wartime hero as a pilot and was known to live life to the full. He also played Australian Rules Football with much success.

Source: CricketCrowd Staff Reporter