Martin Ellis Miller (15 December 1940 —28 October 2016) was an English first-class cricketer and civil servant.
Miller was born at Lytham St Annes in December 1940 and studied Law at St. John's College at the University of Cambridge. [1] While studying at Cambridge,he played first-class cricket for Cambridge University Cricket Club in 1963,making twelve appearances. [2] Playing as an off break bowler in the Cambridge side,he took 33 wickets at an average of 23.33;he took a five wicket haul on two occasions,with best figures of 6 for 89. [3] These figures came against Middlesex,which guaranteed his place in The University Match against Oxford at Lord's. [4] Wisden described how Miller was able to vary the flight and pace of his off breaks,saying he did so "artfully". It was also noted how he could bowl for unlimited periods. [4] As a lower order batsman,he scored 48 runs with a highest score of 21 not out. [5]
His talents were noticed by Worcestershire,but he turned down their approach over concerns about his eyesight. [4] Miller first worked as a lawyer after graduating from Cambridge and later joined the Civil Service,working in the Ministry of Transport and then the Department of the Environment;however,due to his eyesight failing,he had to retire early. He later developed Parkinson's disease and died in Dartford in October 2016. [4]
Abdul Qadir Khan SI was an international cricketer who bowled leg spin for Pakistan. Abdul Qadir is widely regarded as a legendary leg spinner from the 1970s and 1980s and was a role model for up and coming leg spinners. Qadir was voted the best player in the Group B matches of the 1987 Cricket World Cup and won a car which he donated to Imran Khan for his Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre project. Later he was a commentator and Chief Selector of the Pakistan Cricket Board,from which he resigned in 2009 due to differences of opinion with leading Pakistan cricket administrators.
Hedley Verity was a professional cricketer who played for Yorkshire and England between 1930 and 1939. A slow left-arm orthodox bowler,he took 1,956 wickets in first-class cricket at an average of 14.90 and 144 wickets in 40 Tests at an average of 24.37.
Norman Walter Dransfield Yardley was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University,Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England,as a right-handed batsman and occasional bowler. An amateur,he captained Yorkshire from 1948 to 1955 and England on fourteen occasions between 1947 and 1950,winning four Tests,losing seven and drawing three. Yardley was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1948,and in his obituary in Wisden Cricketers' Almanack he was described as Yorkshire's finest amateur since Stanley Jackson.
The Australian cricket team in England in 1948 is famous for being the only Test match side to play an entire tour of England without losing a match. This feat earned them the nickname of "The Invincibles",and they are regarded as one of the greatest cricket teams of all time. According to the Australian federal government,the team "is one of Australia's most cherished sporting legends". The team was captained by Don Bradman,who was making his fourth and final tour of England.
Ian William Geddes Johnson,was an Australian cricketer who played 45 Test matches as a slow off-break bowler between 1946 and 1956. Johnson captured 109 Test wickets at an average of 29.19 runs per wicket and as a capable lower order batsman made 1,000 runs at an average of 18.51 runs per dismissal. He captained the Australian team in 17 Tests,winning seven and losing five,with a further five drawn. Despite this record,he is better known as the captain who lost consecutive Ashes series against England. Urbane,well-spoken and popular with his opponents and the public,he was seen by his teammates as a disciplinarian and his natural optimism was often seen as naive.
Cambridgeshire County Cricket Club is one of twenty minor county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Cambridgeshire including the Isle of Ely.
Charles Stowell "Father" Marriott was an English cricketer,who played first-class cricket for Lancashire,Cambridge University and Kent. Marriott played between 1919 and 1938 and was considered one of the best leg-break and googly bowlers of the time. He went on to teach,having served during World War I in the British Army.
Douglas Thomas Ring was an Australian cricketer who played for Victoria and for Australia in 13 Test matches between 1948 and 1953. In 129 first-class cricket matches,he took 426 wickets bowling leg spin,and he had a top score of 145 runs,which was the only century of his career.
George Gibson Macaulay was a professional English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1920 and 1935. He played in eight Test matches for England from 1923 to 1933,achieving the rare feat of taking a wicket with his first ball in Test cricket. One of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1924,he took 1,838 first-class wickets at an average of 17.64 including four hat-tricks.
Geoffrey Bevington Legge was an English first-class cricketer who played in five Test matches between 1927 and 1930. He was born at Bromley,Kent and died at Brampford Speke,Devon in a flying accident while serving in the Fleet Air Arm during World War II.
James Montague Neblett was a cricketer who played one Test match for West Indies in 1935.
1939 was the 46th cricket season in England since the introduction of the County Championship in 1890. It was the one and only season in which English cricket adopted the eight-ball over. 1939 was the last season before the Second World War and it was not until 1946 that first-class cricket could resume in England on a normal basis. The West Indies were on tour and England won the Test series 1–0. The West Indian team departed early,with several matches cancelled,because of the growing international crisis.
All first-class cricket was cancelled in the 1940 to 1944 English cricket seasons because of the Second World War;no first-class matches were played in England after Friday,1 September 1939 until Saturday,19 May 1945.
The New Zealand cricket team toured England in the 1937 season. The team was the third from New Zealand to tour England,following those of 1927 and 1931,and the second to play Test matches. Three Tests were arranged:England won the second match at Manchester,and the games at Lord's and The Oval were drawn,the latter affected by rain. On the tour as a whole,the New Zealanders played 32 first-class matches,winning nine and losing nine,with 14 ending as draws.
The West Indies cricket team toured England in 1933,playing three Test matches,losing two of them and drawing the other. In all,the side played 30 first-class matches,winning only five and losing nine.
Lionel Montague Cranfield played first-class cricket for Gloucestershire between 1934 and 1951. He was born in Bristol and died at Stockport,Greater Manchester.
John Donald Martin is an English retired cricketer who played first-class cricket for Oxford University and Somerset. He also played Minor Counties cricket for Oxfordshire and Berkshire. He was born in Oxford.
Simon Robert Porter was an English cricketer. Porter was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm off break. He was born in Cowley,Oxfordshire.
Bernard James Tindal Bosanquet was an English cricketer best known for inventing the googly,a delivery designed to deceive the batsman. When bowled,it appears to be a leg break,but after pitching the ball turns in the opposite direction to that which is expected,behaving as an off break instead. Bosanquet,who played first-class cricket for Middlesex between 1898 and 1919,appeared in seven Test matches for England as an all-rounder. He was chosen as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1905.
Walter Basil Bridge is a former English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Warwickshire between 1955 and 1968. He was a right-handed lower-order batsman and a right-arm off-break bowler. He was born at Selly Oak,Birmingham.