Keith Miller With The Australian Cricket Team in England in 1948 - First Test

First Test

Leading into the Tests, Fingleton speculated that the English batsmen would have great difficulty against Miller and Lindwall, claiming that their prolific scoring against low-quality bowling in county cricket would hinder their ability to adapt to the demands of facing world-class opposition. Miller set the tone for Australia after England won the toss and batted first on the opening morning of the First Test at Trent Bridge. There had been overnight rain, which meant that the pitch would initially be favourable towards fast bowlers. Opening the bowling with Lindwall, he induced an edge from Washbrook in his first over, but it went to ground. In his second over, Miller bowled Hutton with a faster ball, leaving England at 1/9. In his second over, Miller bowled Hutton for three with a faster ball that skidded off the pitch to leave England at 9/1. The ball went between bat and pads as Hutton moved forward onto his front foot. The journalist and former Australian Test leg spinner Bill O'Reilly criticised Hutton for not moving his leg across to the pitch of the ball, thereby leaving a gap between bat and pad, but also praise Miller for his ability to make occasional deliveries skid on faster, surprising the batsman.

Miller beat Washbrook's bat twice in one over soon after lunch, but was unable to extract an edge. Miller then had a hand in another wicket, when Johnston removed Joe Hardstaff junior for a duck. Johnston induced an edge, which flew to the slips after the batsman had attempted a cut; the catch was described by Wisden as "dazzling". Miller dived and balanced himself on his spine, before catching the ball to leave England at 4/46. Two runs later, he bowled Compton, who was attempting a leg sweep. The batsman’s leg stump was knocked out of the ground as he moved across the stumps. As a result, half the English team were out with only 48 runs on the board after 100 minutes of play. England fell to 8/74, but recovered with a 89-run ninth-wicket partnership between Alec Bedser and Laker. Miller ended the innings by removing Laker—caught behind for 63—leaving England all out for 165. The paceman ended with 3/38 from 19 overs.

On the second day, Miller came in at 2/121 and was dismissed for a duck without further addition to Australia's total. He failed to pick Laker's arm ball, which went straight on instead of turning in, clipped the outside edge and was taken at slip by Edrich. The hard-hitting Miller had come in at No. 4, a position usually occupied by vice-captain Lindsay Hassett, a more sedate batsman, indicating that Bradman may have been looking to attack, but the change in batting order failed.

After Australia finished at 509 on the third day to take a 344-run lead, Miller opened the bowling with Johnston, as Lindwall had broken down in the first innings and was unable to take to the field. Miller removed Washbrook for one, caught behind by Tallon from a top-edged hook shot. Washbrook was displeased with the decision and gestured to a red mark on his shirt, indicating his opinion that the ball did not touch the willow, but made a noise upon brushing his clothing. Miller continued his battle with Hutton and Compton, although he resorted to bowling off spin from a shorter run to conserve energy late in the day.

Hutton then hit three fours in quick succession from Miller’s bowling to reach his fifty. The paceman responded to the spate of boundaries by reverting to pace and bowling a series of bouncers, including five in the last over of the day. One of these struck Hutton high on his left (front) arm. The batsmen survived, but the bowler received a hostile reaction from the crowd throughout his barrage of short-pitched bowling, including shouts of "Bodyline". At the time, bowlers of the pace of Lindwall and Miller were rare, and persistently aiming at the upper bodies of batsmen had not yet become a mainstream practice. However, as only Australia possessed international quality bowlers of such pace, opposition teams could not use retaliation as a means of deterrence. In addition, the original practitioners of Bodyline, Harold Larwood and Bill Voce, were both from Nottinghamshire, and were later excluded from Test selection for England after being blamed for the ill-feeling caused by their tactics. The Nottinghamshire supporters were still angry with how their players had been removed and were not happy that Miller was able to do something that they saw to be equivalent. For his part, Miller appeared to be amused by the crowd reaction and revelled in it, grinning and flicking his hair. Hutton had the last word, glancing Miller for a four from the final ball of the day. England were 2/121 at stumps on the third day, with Hutton and Compton still at the crease. Miller was widely jeered and heckled as he walked off the field at the end of play—the crowd regarded his bowling as intimidatory. The crowd surged towards him as he walked up the steps into the dressing room, but no altercation eventuated. O'Reilly defended Miller's use of short-pitched deliveries, pointing out that he had not employed a packed leg side field and had allowed the batsman the opportunity to score from hook and pull shots if he was willing to try; in contrast the packed Bodyline field meant that batsmen would find little reward for such shots and defensive play would only lead to dismissal.

The third day was followed by a rest day on Sunday, so play resumed on the fourth morning, a Monday, with England still 223 runs in arrears. The Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club (NCCC) secretary H. A. Brown broadcast an appeal to the gallery via the public address system, urging them to refrain from barracking Miller.

Let us keep Nottingham a place where Test matches can continue to be played. On Saturday the Australian, Miller, was booed and there was much subsequent publicity in the press. These Australians are great sportsmen. They stood by the Empire in the war and we should always be pleased to greet them. Let us show them how really pleased we are and give them a warmhearted greeting this morning.

The crowd responded by clapping when the Australians took to the field. The chairman of the NCCC reportedly apologised to Bradman in private regarding the crowd reaction to Miller. Taking the new ball in the fifth over of the day, Miller delivered no bouncers in the morning; the first hour of play was punctuated by bad light and weather. In the overcast conditions, Miller bowled a relatively full length and swung the ball; one of his deliveries beat Hutton and narrowly missed his stumps. Shortly after the resumption of play amid dark skies, he bowled Hutton with an off cutter. As in the first innings, Hutton played forward to a ball without getting his front foot close to the bat, resulting in the delivery moving through the gap into the stumps. This prompted the entrance of Hardstaff, and on the third ball, he shaped to cut at a wide ball, and it again flew low to second slip as it did in the first innings. However, this time Arthur Morris was in the position because Miller was bowling, and the former dropped the catch. It was part of an eventful over; Hardstaff played and missed at one ball, inside edged another and then outside edged a ball through the slips for four runs. During the morning session, Bradman used Miller for 11 overs in a row in an attempt to pressure the Englishmen.

Soon after reaching his century late in the day, Compton edged to the slips from Miller's bowling, but Johnson dropped the catch. Charlie Barnett then edged Johnston into the slips, where Miller completed a difficult catch. Compton then hit Miller for four, provoking the paceman's first bouncer of the day. Compton hooked it away for two and the next delivery slipped out of Miller's hand and cleared the batsman’s head on the full, provoking some jeering in the crowd. This type of delivery is known as a beamer and is illegal because it poses a physical danger to the batsman. England reached stumps at 6/345, just one run ahead of the tourists, with Compton on 154.

The next day, Miller bowled a fast bouncer at Compton, who moved into position to hook, before changing his mind and attempting to evade the ball. Compton lost balance and threw his legs apart, trying to avoid stepping onto his stumps. However, he was unsuccessful and was out hit wicket for 184. Compton had batted for 413 minutes and hit 19 fours. Fingleton said that it was "a most depressing end to an innings that will live always". Compton's fall at 7/405 meant that there were no frontline batsmen left, leaving the English bowlers exposed to the visitors' attack without specialist support. Australia quickly finished off the hosts' innings; Miller bowled Laker for four, before Evans reached 50 and England finished at 441, leaving Australia with a victory target of 98 in three hours. The Australian paceman ended with 4/125 for the innings and 7/163 for the match, having removed England's two leading batsmen in both innings and bowled 63 overs—more than his usual workload—because Lindwall was injured.

As the players were walking back to the pavilion after England's innings, Miller received another hostile reception. One spectator threatened him with violence, prompting the Australian to grab him by his coat collar, challenging him to enter the Australian dressing room. The spectator declined. Miller was not required to bat as Australia went on to win by eight wickets.

After the heavy bowling workload at Trent Bridge, Bradman rested Miller for the innings win against Northamptonshire, which started the day after the Test. Miller returned for another match against Yorkshire, albeit with a lighter bowling load. He scored 20 in the first innings and made a duck in the second. Nevertheless, he opened the bowling in the first innings with the intention of keeping the pressure on Hutton. Miller was unable to dismiss his arch-rival, but Ernie Toshack did. The paceman was barracked by the spectators, who shouted "What about Larwood" in response to the repeated short-pitched bowling during his six wicketless overs. Bradman spared Miller from bowling in the second innings because of a back complaint, attempting to preserve him for the upcoming Test at Lord’s.