Famous Cricketers No 70 - Keith Miller

1946/47 The winter of 1946/47 saw the first MCC tour of Australia since the Second World War. Miller had an outstanding first Test Series against England finishing second in both the batting and bowling averages. As a batsman he scored 384 runs at an average of 76.80 and as a bowler he took 16 wickets at 20.87. He made four centuries altogether that season including 206 not out against New South Wales which moved The Sydney Morning Herald to comment that “Miller’s hitting was both graceful and powerful”. He made another big hundred (153) against New South Wales at Melbourne and 188 against South Australia at Adelaide. In the Test Matches he scored 79 at Brisbane in a big Australian score and then took 7-60 in England’s first innings, slowing his pace to take advantage of a wicket badly affected by rain. In England’s follow-on he had Hutton caught off the first ball and also dismissed Washbrook to take two for 17. At Sydney, in the Second Test, he scored 40 and took one wicket for 61 runs. In the Third Test at Melbourne he made 33 and 34 and took two wickets for 75 before succeeding as a batsman at Adelaide in the Fourth Test with an innings of 141 not out. He scored these runs in 270 minutes with one six and nine fours and added 150 with Ian Johnson for the fifth wicket. He took two for 79 with the ball. In the final match at Sydney he made 23 and 34 not out steering Australia home in the second innings of a low scoring match. He took two wickets for 42. In all matches he topped 1200 runs and ended in fifth place in the overall averages. He was seventh in the bowling averages with 32 wickets at 22.65. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 40. Victoria v MCC, Melbourne, October 31, November 1, 2, 4 (MCC won by 244 runs) c L.Hutton b D.V.P.Wright 32 189 358 b J.Langridge 8 204 279-7d 41. Australian XI v MCC, Melbourne, November (8), 9, 11, (12), 13 (Match drawn) c T.G.Evans b T.P.B.Smith 5 327-5 4 0 8 0 314 1 42. Victoria v South Australia, Adelaide, November 15, 16, 18, 19 (Victoria won by nine wickets) run out 188 548 11 1 32 2 V.R.Gibson b 270 R.V.James b c W.Englefield b J.L.Mann 33 79-1 2 0 10 0 356 43. AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND, Brisbane, November 29, 30, December 2, 3, 4 (Australia won by an innings and 332 runs) lbw b D.V.P.Wright 79 645 22 4 60 7 L.Hutton b 141 C.Washbrook c S.G.Barnes W.J.Edrich c C.L.McCool D.C.S.Compton lbw J.T.Ikin c D.Tallon P.A.Gibb b A.V.Bedser lbw 11 3 17 2 L.Hutton c S.G.Barnes 172 C.Washbrook c S.G.Barnes 44. AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND, Sydney, December 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19 (Australia won by an innings and 33 runs) c T.G.Evans b T.P.B.Smith 40 659-8d 9 2 24 0 255 11 3 37 1 L.Hutton hit wkt 371 45. Victoria v New South Wales, Melbourne, December 26, 27, 28, 30 (Victoria won by an innings and 114 runs) run out 153 560-8d 10 1 22 2 E.W.Lukeman c E.A.Baker 205 2 D.R.Cristofani c D.T.Ring 11 1 41 1 E.W.Lukeman c I.W.Johnson 241 1 46. AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND, Melbourne, January 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 (Match drawn) c T.G.Evans b D.V.P.Wright 33 365 10 0 34 0 351 1 c W.R.Hammond b N.W.D.Yardley 34 536 11 0 41 2 J.T.Ikin c A.L.Hassett 310-7 A.V.Bedser lbw 47. Combined XI v MCC, Hobart, January 10, 11, 13 (Match drawn) c T.G.Evans b A.V.Bedser 70 374 15 2 35 1 T.G.Evans c D.J.Clark 278 lbw b J.T.Ikin 30 145-2 12 0 52 1 J.T.Ikin c D.J.Clark 353-9d 48. Victoria v Queensland, Brisbane, January 17, 18, 20 (Victoria won by an innings and 13 runs) c and b A.S.Young 81 466 8.4 1 21 3 G.G.Cook lbw 235 L.J.Johnson b T.E.Ball c E.J.Baker 12