Miller Mr Cool

TO modify a famous phrase, some people are born cool, some become cool, and some have coolness thrust upon them. Keith Ross Miller had all three.
It was perhaps fate that a man named after early aviation heroes Keith and Ross Smith would go on to fly fighter planes during World War II. It was here that Miller made friends, lost friends, and came close to losing his life on more than one occasion.
A fan of classical music, during one mission Miller decided to make a detour so he could fly over Bonn simply so he could see the birthplace of Beethoven. How cool is that?
Miller had made his first class debut for Victoria before the war, in a non-Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania in 1938. There he hit 181 in the first innings - and did not bowl.
In fact, it wasn’t until the 1940/41 season that Miller actually had a bowl. Playing for Stan McCabe’s XI against Don Bradman’s XI at the MCG, Miller opened the bowling in the second innings after Bradman’s XI followed-on and took the wicket of Kenneth Ridings. Ridings was one of many first-class cricketers to die during WWII, which also included Australian Test player Ross Gregory and England spinner Hedley Verity.
Perhaps Miller’s later behaviour should be seen from that perspective. He never considered himself a bowler - at one point he tossed a ball back to Bradman after being asked to bowl. Bradman threw it back and simply said "bowl". Miller bowled.
Miller’s bowling talents were found out by accident. After WWII there were a number of "Victory" Tests in 1945 between England and an Australian Services team. In the first of these at Lord’s Miller was the fifth bowler used - and promptly bowled Test player Bill Edrich.
Just for good measure he then hit 105 in the first innings.
By the end of the series he was opening the bowling, as well as adding another century to his collection. In his final match of the 1945 season Miller hit an astonishing 185 that was described by those who saw it as one of the greatest batting displays.
As a bowler he was described by England’s Len Hutton as being one of the hardest to face. Miller took wickets with quick balls, slow balls, leg-breaks, googlies, off-breaks, bouncers - pretty much anything that involved releasing the ball from the right hand. His run-up also changed more than the Aussie dollar - some days only a couple of paces, some days 15 paces, some days not bowling full stop. He could generally get away with this as he was still worth his place in the side of just a batsman.
Miller was a big fan of a contest. In the 1955 Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval England only needed 94 runs to win and take a 3-1 series lead. Miller came out, took the wickets of Hutton, Edrich and Colin Cowdrey cheaply to leave England at just 3/18. He later threw out his back - which had been injured during the war - and England stumbled home by five wickets.
If it wasn’t a contest Miller wasn’t interested. In 1948 Australia racked up 729 runs in just one day, of which Miller added exactly 0. He shouldered arms to future England player Trevor Bailey first ball.
For Miller, cricket was only ever a game - one of many he excelled at. He played Australian rules for St Kilda, and dreamt of being a jockey before a growth spurt sent him up around the six foot mark. Perhaps his whole attitude can be summed up in one quote.
"Pressure?" he said.
"I’ll tell you what pressure is. Pressure is a Messerschmitt up your arse, playing cricket is not."
How cool is that?