Audley Montague Miller (19 October 1869 – 26 June 1959) was an amateur

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er who played one

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1896, and stood as an

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

in two Tests, also in 1896.

Life and career

Miller was born in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

and educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

and

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

. He married Georgiana Porter in

Fairford Fairford is a town in Gloucestershire, England. The town lies in the Cotswold hills on the River Coln, east of Cirencester, west of Lechlade and north of Swindon. Nearby are RAF Fairford and the Cotswold Water Park. History Evidence of ...

, Gloucestershire, in August 1897. Miller's participation in his only Test came on England's

tour of South Africa The Tour of South Africa was a stage cycling race in South Africa that was only held once, in 2011. It was part of UCI Africa Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by th ...

in 1895-96. The early England touring parties to South Africa comprised mostly good minor county or club cricketers, with a small number of first-class cricketers thrown in. The games against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

were only given Test status retrospectively. Miller was one of the minor players on the tour, and he made his first-class and Test debut in the 1st Test at Port Elizabeth in February 1896, scoring 4

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

and 20 not out. Due to the bowling of

George Lohmann George Alfred Lohmann (2 June 1865 – 1 December 1901) was an English cricketer, regarded as one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Statistically, he holds the lowest lifetime Test bowling average among bowlers with more than fifteen wickets ...

(7-38 and 8-7, including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

), England won easily, by 288 runs. On the tour Miller played in most of the non-first-class matches, batting low in the order, and finished with 123 runs at an average of 11.18. Miller stood as an umpire in the remaining two Tests of the tour, the 2nd Test at Johannesburg and the 3rd Test at Cape Town, both played in March 1896. Both matches were largely dominated by Lohmann's bowling and won easily by England. These were the only Test or first-class matches in which Miller stood as an umpire. After he returned to England, Miller played four more first-class games over the period to

1903 Events January * January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India. * January 19 – The first west–east transatlantic radio broadcast is made from the United States to England (the first east–west broadcast having bee ...

, all for the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

. He played many seasons for

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

and was team captain for 25 years until 1920. Under his captaincy, Wiltshire won the

Minor Counties Cricket Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...

in 1902 and in 1909, when he took 6 for 39 in the second innings of the final. For three years before his death in 1959, Miller was the oldest living Test cricketer. His nephew, Thomas Miller, played first-class cricket for

between 1902 and 1914.

References

External links

Cricinfo page on Audley Miller
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Audley 1869 births 1959 deaths Cricketers from Bristol People from Westbury-on-Trym People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge England Test cricketers English cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Wiltshire cricketers English Test cricket umpires