Geoff Miller’s eight-year international career included a triumphant Ashes tour in which he led the England bowling averages, topped and tailed by some crushing defeats at the hands of the West Indies.
But since his retirement Miller has achieved even greater renown than in the Test arena as the foremost speaker on the cricketing circuit.
The 74-year-old former all-rounder has chalked up more than 5,000 speaking engagements and in his latest, as guest of Norfolk Cricket Society at Manor Park, he showcased a wonderful mixture of comedy, character study and serious analysis of the modern game.
Miller, born in Chesterfield and a pupil at Chesterfield Grammar School, spent all but three of his 18 first-class seasons with Derbyshire and the rest with Essex, before a Minor Counties stint with Cheshire.
The wily off-spinner and lower middle-order batsman played 34 Tests from his debut against West Indies at The Oval in 1976 to his final appearance against the same team at Lord’s in 1984, both ending in heavy defeats. He also played 25 one-day internationals.
Miller featured in two Ashes-winning teams, appearing once during the 1977 home series but most notably as England’s joint leading wicket taker with 23 Test wickets on the tour of Australia in 1978-79, where England won 5-1 and he also finished above Geoff Boycott and Graham Gooch in the batting averages.
Miller did not dwell on his own achievements, instead engaging with an audience of 55 in stand-up comic fashion and recalling with precision and hilarity his experiences playing with and against some of the biggest names in world cricket. The Miller’s Tale by Chaucer could not be so entertaining.
He experienced sharing a room with Ian Botham on six of his seven England tours and had memorable stories of life with Boycott, whether on the cricket field, in a taxi or on the golf course.
The four Bs – Boycott, Botham, and his two best captains, Eddie Barlow and Mike Brearley – featured prominently in Miller’s recollections. Barlow, he said, taught him everything he knew about the game. Brearley was a great man manager.
He spoke warmly of his time with Derbyshire, with whom he won the NatWest Trophy in 1981, sprinting the single that secured victory over Northamptonshire by fewer wickets lost, and where he played alongside England teammates Mike Hendrick, David Steele and Bob Taylor. Miller rated Taylor an even better wicketkeeper than the great Alan Knott, but accepted that Knott was the complete package for England because of his superior batting.
Miller was also England national selector for five years, during which time they reached number one in the world rankings under skipper Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower in 2011 before things unravelled. Despite a glittering line-up that included Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, James Anderson and Stuart Broad, he argued that batsman Jonathan Trott and off-spinner Graeme Swann were the missing pieces of the jigsaw that finally put England on top of the world.
Miller auctioned a signed bat and invited donations for a retiring collection in aid of his chosen charity, Prostate Cancer UK, after undergoing treatment of his own.
Words by David Cuffley
Photos by Adam Pryke
