Australian cricket great Keith Miller, an allrounder on Donald Bradman's Invincibles team that toured England unbeaten in 1948, has died at the age of 84.
Miller, voted vice-captain of Australia's "dream" team of the 20th century, died Monday at a nursing home south of Melbourne, his family said.
Considered one of the world's greatest allrounders, Miller played 55 tests for Australia, scoring 2,958 runs at an average of 36.97 and claiming 170 wickets at 22.97 after making his debut against New Zealand.
He and fellow fast bowler Ray Lindwall formed a winning partnership to dominate the Australian bowling lineup after World War II.
A successful new-ball bowler, Miller was also a big-hitting batsman who compiled seven test hundreds and 13 half centuries.
He made 181 on debut for Victoria state as an 18-year-old in 1937-38 and played his first test in 1946.
Miller's best international bowling figures were 7-60. He took five wickets in an innings on seven occasions and once snared 10 wickets in a test match.
In 226 first-class matches, he had 14,183 runs with a high score of 281.
He was named Wisden cricketer of the year in 1954 and became a member of the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 1996.
A gifted sportsman, he played 50 Australian Rules football games for the Melbourne team St. Kilda in Australia's premier league and represented Victoria state in 1946.
His high-flying reputation was enhanced by his service as a fighter pilot during World War II.
"He was, in his day, probably the best allrounder in the game," said Clyde Walcott, 78, part of the famous West Indies ``Three Ws'' formation in the 1950s. ``I can't think of anyone better than him when I was playing and only one better than him since in Garry Sobers.''
Sam Loxton, another of the 1948 Invincibles team, also said Sobers of the West Indies was the only better allrounder he had seen.
``I was in Keith's shadow all my career ... and it was a pretty big shadow,'' said Loxton.
After retiring in 1956, Miller spent 20 years as the cricket correspondent for London's Daily Express. He is survived by his wife, Marie.
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