Early Life of Keith Miller - Club Cricket

Club Cricket

At the start of the 1934–35 season, Truscott took Miller to a try out with St Kilda Cricket Club, but his protege could not find a place in any of the club's five teams. Joining the local sub-district cricket club Elsternwick, Miller did not get to bat or bowl on debut, and was then dropped to the Second XI after his first match for poor fielding. Nevertheless, the former Victorian state player Hughie Carroll spotted Miller's talent and lured him to the rival South Melbourne club. However, Elsternwick used the competition rules to prevent Miller from playing for Souths, so he continued to play in the former's second-choice team. In the meantime, Miller continued to play for his school with steady results, scoring 30 and 25 in two matches against Melbourne's main rival, University High School. A loosening of the zoning rules allowed Miller to start competing for South Melbourne in the following season. However, the rules required South Melbourne to play Miller in their First XI, else St Kilda could reclaim him, so he made his district cricket debut for South at the start of the 1935–36 season after a trial in the nets. At this stage, Miller was just 162 cm (5 ft 4 in) tall—the Test batsman Keith Rigg recalled his first encounter with the diminutive youngster in a district match:

He was so small he came in to bat with pads flapping around up near his waist. Hans Ebeling was bowling and Keith hit him through the covers for four. I thought, 'Crikey, who's this kid?'

It was at South Melbourne that Miller met Ian Johnson and Lindsay Hassett, his future Australia team-mates and captains. On debut against St Kilda, Miller scored only 11 not out after batting for 62 minutes at No. 7, but observers felt the young batsman would succeed if he physically grew. Miller passed his exams at the end of 1935 and continued his development on the field. He began to develop a leg break and googly and represented his school against a visiting schoolboy team from Ceylon. Miller scored an unbeaten 28 to prevent a loss and later cited the experience as helping to broaden his horizons towards other cultures. Assisted by cross-training in baseball, his improved fielding skills saw him placed in the slips and he was named as Melbourne High School's cricket sports champion for 1936. Miller averaged 86 with the bat and took 13 wickets at an average of 9.23, including innings figures of seven wickets for 29 runs against St Kevin's and 3/5 against University High. These performances prompted Woodfull to write in the school magazine that "Miller has Test possibilities". In March, Miller played for South Melbourne against Carlton, who were captained by Woodfull. South Melbourne batted first and collapsed to 5/6. The sixth wicket fell at 32, bringing Miller to the crease. He guided his team to 141, and was the last man out for 61 after putting on a stand of 65 in 95 minutes with the No. 11. Miller struck four boundaries in a 147-minute innings. The crowd of 14,000—the largest of the season—gave Miller a standing ovation, and newspapers compared him to Ponsford and Alan Kippax. Carlton went on to win the game, and when it was obvious that this would be the case, Miller's captain let him bowl for the first time. The small batsman took his first wicket in district cricket when Test paceman Laurie Nash took a high-leaping catch. Miller's performance prompted Carlton to donate a silver eggcup as a memento "for sterling performance". Woodfull presented Miller with the trophy during algebra class. It was one of the few sports trophies that Miller kept in later life.

During 1936, Miller underwent a sudden growth spurt, including a three-month period during which he added 10 cm (3.9 in) to his height. He began to play football with more physical aggression and developed the ability to leap high and take airborne marks. The increase in size allowed Miller to become the longest kicker in the school team. Having grown 28 cm (11 in) in a year, Miller was unrecognisable to Hassett upon his return to South Melbourne the following season. Eventually, Miller reached 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) in height, thwarting his ambition to be a jockey, although he never lost his love for the racetrack.