It's Miller Time!
A deeper look into the making of David Miller
Miller Time means different things to different people. To cricket fans, it means David Miller is in good form and as his father taught him as a youngster, 'if it's the v, it's in the tree; if it's in the arc, it's out the park.'
For David himself, Miller Time is family time. Because of a busy schedule, the 32-year-old doesn't spend a lot of time with friends and family. He misses all sorts of events to do with family and friends, from birthdays to weddings and anniversaries. So, when home he does his best to make up for the lost time. Miller Time also means time for him to do a bit of photography and a few other hobbies.
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Mitchell Johnson was bowling at the speed of light. Batters who faced Johnson between the 2013-14 Ashes and the 2015 World Cup encountered a new dimension of speed. After being dropped from the Australian side early in 2013, the 33-year-old had unlocked a new level. He seemed more accurate, fiercer and faster.
This was Johnson's swansong, and he was going out with a bang. He was determined to go out on his terms.
Andrew Miller was sitting in his lounge watching David take guard to face this version of Mitchell Johnson. He was terrified for David. Johnson's sling-shot action meant that the batter saw the ball a little too late. His arm sort of vanished behind his back before he delivered the ball. A man like that in form can be a menace.
Australia needed three wickets to lead two-nil in the five-match ODI series, so they brought Johnson back into the attack. David Miller was the new man at the crease after AB DeVilliers’ dismissal, and getting him out would set Australia on course to victory.
Johnson bowled an eight-ball over full of aggression to David Miller. Two deliveries went over the wicketkeeper’s head. The Australian team was sneering and snarling, adding to the atmosphere.
“I was perspiring like I have never perspired before,” says Andrew Miller. “Watching that over was one of the most nerve-wrecking things I have ever done.”
Andrew breathed a sigh of relief when David straight drove Johnson for four off the last ball of the over. David would not cower in a corner while Johnson had his way with him. David was composed and in control of his innings. He scored an unbeaten 22 off 26 balls to lead the Proteas to a three-wicket win.
“I don’t think many people talk about that innings from David,” says Andrew. “But it is one of my favourite innings from him. It’s not always the hundreds and fifties that standout.”
A recent entry onto the list of Andrew’s favourite innings by David was David’s knock in the IPL final. Again, Andrew was nervous as he watched David come to the crease. Again, Andrew was watching from his couch in Durban. But, this time, he felt nervous for a different reason. He was nervous because things can go south easily when chasing low totals and, most importantly, he badly wanted David to help his team to victory. This was David’s redemption season.
It's a long-running family joke. It has been around for as long as most members of the Miller family can remember.
"Genes skip a generation," David's grandfather, Mike Miller, often playfully remarks to his son, Andrew Miller.
It is possible that the phrase entered the family lexicon when David was two or three years old. Andrew had bought David a plastic set of golf clubs. The clubs came with a hard plastic ball.
David is right-handed. He has always done things in a right-handed manner from infancy. David kicks right-footed, writes right-handed, throws right-handed… He transforms into a left-hander when he has to play with both hands. Andrew and his wife were unaware of this until that afternoon when David picked up the toy golf club. Like most toys, the clubs were designed for right-handers, but, as cool and natural as you like, David held the club the way a left-hander would.
From that day until around 2016/17, David played golf left-handed and then turned himself into a right-handed golfer overnight.
“Davey, hit this ball back to dad, just hit it back to me,” Andrew encouraged David as he rolled the plastic ball to the toddler.
Without hesitating, David made contact with the ball with his first swing, hitting it back to Andrew.
“It’s a fluke,” Andrew told his wife. She was standing beside him in the hallway. Sometimes kids, especially toddlers, do things by luck. But, it was not luck. Even as a toddler, David had good hand-eye coordination. When Andrew rolled the ball again, with the same instruction, David repeated what he had done before. He made contact the first time.
This kid will play for South Africa one day, was all Andrew could say to his wife.
Mike Miller could have told Andrew that David was following in his footsteps. At one point, Mike Miller was South Africa’s most capped polo player. The older Miller played 50 Test matches for South Africa between 1965 and 1986. Before then, Mike Miller had attained school honours for cricket, rugby and tennis.
Andrew on the other hand was not as decorated as his father. After a successful high school sporting career at Kearsney College, the highest level Andrew played at was premier league cricket with DHS Old Boys. His career with DHS did not last long, though. As his business grew, he had less time to devote to premier league cricket.
So, Andrew moved down to country districts cricket. It was better suited to his life. Country districts cricket was not as demanding as premier league cricket. Andrew did not have to practise for matches. All he had to do was show up on match day.
His father playing country districts cricket was the best thing that could have happened to young David. Country districts cricket was family-oriented. Wives and families tagged along to matches and set up picnic spots on the grassbanks. Kids had parallel contests on the side of the field, often trying to replicate what the adults were doing on the field.
There was no shortage of adults ready to throw balls for David. There was also no shortage of adults willing to offer one or two things about batting to curious youngsters. After the day's play, parents could bathe the kids in the change rooms.
Every weekend felt like a mini-vacation. This is where David fell in love with cricket, on the grass banks of country districts cricket matches.
The first thing Graham Ford noticed about David's batting was his front foot. David was 11 at the time. The youngster looked in control as he played his shots. The bat made a sweet sound as he middled the ball. The sound of clean contact between bat and ball was a sound that David loved. It was not different to the sound a polo ball made with the bat.
A polo ball is what David grew up playing with. It is a hard plastic ball, slightly larger than a cricket ball. Andrew felt that the polo ball was the best option. Every weekday Andrew would get home to find David waiting for him, half-bat in hand. Andrew had chopped one of his bats in half to make it short enough for David to handle easily. It was still on the heavy side.
During the first days, Andrew rolled the ball to David on the concrete strip in the Miller backyard. As the youngster’s arms grew stronger, Andrew started bowling underarm to him.
“He always used to pick the length quite easily from an early age,” says Andrew.
The polo ball made a beautiful cracking sound when it came in contact with the bat. David loved hearing that sound made by the willow and the ball together. He spent many afternoons in the backyard hitting a polo ball that hung from a tree in a sock with his half-bat. He was always proud to tell his father the day’s new high score he had arrived at without making a mistake. Sometimes young David prevailed on his parents to bat by the tree a little into the night.
Though it is an appealing narrative, David Miller did not jump from backyard cricket to bamboozling Ford with skill and ability ahead of his time.
True, David was a precocious youngster. He always made steps in mastering the basics of batting at an earlier-than-average age. It is also true that cricket came naturally to him. And it is also true had a rage to master. He was intrinsically motivated to do better at batting. He ticked Ellen Winner’s boxes of gifted children.
But, skill is insulation that wraps neural circuits and grows according to certain signals, as Daniel Coyle explains in Talent Code. Talent is not skill, skill is acquired through deliberate practice.
Shortly before taking David to Ford’s academy, Andrew Miller took his son to Harry Brown. Andrew and Brown had once played together and enjoyed a good relationship. Brown was an excellent junior coach. Andrew realised that he could only take his son so far and employed Brown’s coaching services.
“It was when I tested David on the back foot that I realised that I was working with a special talent,” says Ford. David’s defence was solid, and he punched the ball off the back foot with real power. “My job as coach was also made pretty easy as his dad had done such a good job in instilling the basics into David’s batting.”
We are not born pre-wired to perform certain skills. Genetics give others a headstart on the path to skill acquisition. And others, well, others will not have genetics on their side. David had genetics on his side, but, there was a lot of work to be done. Skill is insulation that wraps neural circuits and grows according to certain signals.
Ford was responsible for helping David develop myelin, the insulation that wraps around neural circuits. He grooved David's technique. They spent hours upon hours in the nets working on his technique. 21 years after they started working together, David still reaches out to Ford for advice.
One of the areas Ford did a lot of work with David was shoulder alignment. In the years that followed, Ford made sure he drilled into David the importance of good shoulder alignment.
Ford’s work with David was made easier by David’s attitude. The youngster was the embodiment of ‘passion, respect and a massive desire to absorb every bit information that was available and, importantly, he could convert that information into positive action and performance.’
David Miller scored 87.18% of the score on the day. Clifton was playing against Cordwalles, a prep school in Pietermaritzburg. Clifton was chasing 156 for victory, and David, opening the batting, had scored 136 of those runs. The rest of the batters that had occupied the crease had contributed only 18 runs.
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Andrew had watched his son’s innings and was beaming with pride. David’s innings were a culmination of all the work father and son had done together. It was a culmination of all the balls David had hit in his life up to that point. But, Andrew was worried that this kind of performance might go to David’s head and make the youngster lose sight of what mattered most. So, Andrew pulled his son aside.
“Listen Davey,” Andrew cautioned the boy. “I am so proud of the innings that you played. It was a fabulous knock. But, trust me, there are going to be many more knocks like this to come in your life. What I need you to do right now, is think of your teammates who made ducks off the first ball.”
On the advice of his father, David took off his gloves and pads and went over to his teammates. He offered words of commiseration on the low scores and ducks to each one. As encouragement, he assured them that they would do better next time.
Andrew Miller was not finished with his teachable moment. He called David over to his side. Andrew asked David to survey the field. A crowd had turned up to watch the match.
“I said to him, there's no need to tell anyone what you've done. Your bat has spoken,” Andrew advised his son. “You've achieved what you've achieved you and everyone has seen saw it. So, don't have to go bragging about what you've done. Your bat is your voice and it will always be your voice, it will always silence people. So whenever you're in a moment of doubt, just remember, your bat will be the one that will come through. And you don't have to go and voice your opinions about how many runs you've made, or what you've done and all that.”
That thoughtful and considerate David Miller is the David Miller that Mike Bechet coached at Maritzburg College. That is also the same David who met and befriended Sarel Erwee. The pair first met at a cricket match that pitted Pelham Senior Primary School, Erwee’s school, against Clifton. They hit it off immediately.
“We saw more of each other at hockey and rugby matches. We both played for the Midlands under-12 sides,” says Erwee.
David Miller was to save Erwee’s cricket career years later. Erwee was on the verge of giving up on the sport altogether. He was a year into a self-imposed exile from cricket, though still unsure of what to do with his life. Erwee had left the game feeling that he was not getting the opportunities he felt he deserved. He always seemed to be overlooked.
David provided him with a shoulder to lean on. Certain that his friend was not done with cricket, David convinced Erwee to take his place at Bury Cricket Club in Machester, UK. David was expected at the SA National Academy at the same time as he was expected at Bury. Instead of simply turning down the offer from Bury, David convinced them to take Erwee in his stead.
“He is very emphatic. He makes time for others and puts their needs ahead of his own needs a lot of times,” says Erwee. “The cricket environment can be quite brutal, but David has a way of making people feel safe and comfortable in it.”
The Maritzburg College first team had finished its match on the Goldstones, the pitch would later to become David Miller’s second home. David was not aware of that fact at the time, but then he was playing his last match on Snows, the junior field.
Spectators from the Goldstones flocked down to Snows to watch the remainder of the match between the under-14 sides. David was still at the crease, putting on a masterclass, as always. He later ended the day with an unbeaten 130, or thereabouts. Mike Bechet was among the hoards that descended on Snows.
Bechet had been watching David for a while now, that’s why Maritzburg College had been prepared to give the youngster a scholarship. The youngster was worth all the hype around him. Hilton, Michaelhouse, Kearsney, and Maritzburg College were among the schools that offered David a scholarship. If he had chosen Kearsney, David would have carried on the family tradition. His grandfather and father were educated at Kearsney. David chose Maritzburg College.
Bechet was convinced that the youngster would do as well or better if he played for the first team. He earmarked David as the one kid he would fast-track. Bechet had a good eye for talent, he had overseen the development of one Kevin Pietersen a few years earlier.
There would be a four-year age gap between the boy and his teammates, but Bechet was not worried about that. The boy was a special talent. So, he approached David’s father to discuss the matter.
As always, Andrew was sitting alone. Andrew Miller did that a lot. He separated himself when watching his son play. It helped him to connect with his son. By focusing on David so much when he was at the crease, Andrew developed a deeper understanding of his son. Through his body language, Andrew developed an ability to tell whether David was in the zone or not in the zone, or if something was not right.
“Sometimes I put the commentary on mute when David is batting, because the commentators give off a different feeling to what I feel,” says Andrew.
Andrew and David had an understanding. David always sought his father in the crowd when he was batting. Separating himself from everyone else made it easy for David to find him. When he located his father, David acknowledged him with a slight nod. David still does that to this day, he scans the stadium for his family when he knows they are attending the match. He still acknowledges his family with a slight nod. He also salutes in their direction and the dressing room if he reaches a milestone.
“I want to play David in the first team this year,” Mike Bechet told Andrew Miller as they watched him put on a masterclass on the lower field, Snows.
The new year was fast approaching, it was October 2003, and Bechet wanted to hear what Andrew Miller thought of his plan. Andrew had only one request. If Bechet fast-tracked David, would he also commit to playing the youngster in his natural position? More often than not, some coaches would hide the younger boys lower in the batting order. Bat them at number seven or eight.
“I believed in him from the outset and sent him into bat on debut for the first XI as an opener because that was what he was... an opening bat,” says Mike Bechet.
When David played his first match for the Maritzburg College first team at 14 during the yearly festival held at College a week before the first term, Bechet was convinced that he had made the right decision.
Throughout his school years, David played up. Playing up drives younger players to reach their optimal challenge point because they are continuously challenged by older, more robust and better-skilled players.
Maritzburg College was not David’s first time playing up. He was nine years old, playing for the under-11 team when he scored his unbeaten century against Cordwalles.
Mike Bechet did not wrap David in bubble wrap. He might have been the youngest on the side, but he was still a first-team player. So he was treated like one. Bechet has a reputation as a tough coach and has supporters and critics in equal measure. Andrew Miller is one of those that support his approach.
Bechet was a no-nonsense coach. It is easy to think of him as an army general marshalling his troops. A match was not over until the last delivery was bowled. Regardless of the state of the game, Bechet expected his team to compete hard.
“Mike Bechet instilled that dog fight into David,” says Andrew Miller. “He has always had that internal flame, that competitive drive. It was Bechet who helped him to develop it and how to channel it effectively.”
There was no playing around with Bechet. You do the job properly or not at all. There was no middle ground, no grey areas. He asked for the best from his players.
Bechet always reminded all his teams, ‘I'm coaching you for your post school career. When you become a professional one day, and you don't perform, not only do you get dropped from the team, but your coach will lose his house. Your coach will lose his house because he will lose his job and will not be able to pay for his mortgage. So best you learn how to perform now, because when you get out there, it's not all that easy.’
Andrew Miller was nervous for David as he watched the game from his couch in Durban. David was not facing Mitchell Johnson or anyone as menacing. He was not afraid that his son had a one in six chance of facing a concussion-inducing delivery. David was facing Ravichandran Ashwin. R. Ashwin is a different type of menace, he is a lethal spin bowler.
Gujarat Titans were 86 for three when David came to the crease. Andrew matches swing and teams go from 86 for three after 13.3 overs to 110 for seven after 18 overs with all recognised batters back in the hutch. Low totals can be tricky to chase.
In that event, the blame would fall on David, the designated finisher, and his season of redemption would go up in flames. All the good knocks he had played during the season would have been for nothing.
“Sometimes I get defensive when it comes to David,” says Andrew Miller. "I can’t help it, I am his father. I sometimes feel that many people don’t understand the difficulty that comes with batting in David’s position. On a good track he comes in after the top order has filled their boots, with very little time to bat. On difficult pitches, he is supposed to perform miracles.”
David’s stock in the IPL had been on the decline since 2016. 2016 was supposed to be the year that raised his value as a player in the IPL. Punjab Kings XI had made him captain. The year turned out to be a trainwreck. In the 14 games that he played, David averaged 16.10 runs at a strike rate of 122.90. Midway through that season, David had the captaincy stripped from him.
2016 was as tough off the field as it was on the field. It was probably difficult on the field because of what he was faced with off the field. David was in and out of the hospital three times that season. It was a tough campaign, but, David soldiered on with everything that was happening.
Since then, some voices started mumbling that maybe the Kings should look beyond him. They eventually did so in 2020. Rajasthan Royals picked him, but did not afford him many opportunities. Gujarat Titans took a gamble on him and his abilities in 2022, and this was his moment to repay them handsomely.
Towards the tail-end of their 2022 campaign, the Gujarat Titans captain, Hardik Pandya, told journalists, “A lot of people counted David Miller out, but for us, he was always a match-winner from the time we bought him from the auction.”
R. Ashwin was back for his second spell. Andrew’s nerves settled when his son deposited the first ball he faced from R. Ashwin in the stands for a six. David’s body language told him that he was in the zone. David has prepared himself for this moment. Part of the preparation was making technical changes to his batting against spin.
David changed his trigger movement when facing spin. Before the change, David used to move across, his front foot pointed towards the offside. He also used to lift his bat as he moved his front foot. Since 2021 David stands still, bat down and only lifts his bat the moment the bowler is releasing the ball.
David’s six off Ashwin was the turning point, as far as Andrew is concerned. For the first time during the match, the required runs were less than the balls left. The six off Ashwin provided release just as the four against Mitchell Johnson had done nine years ago.
“It was as if they were galloping home and that was a wonderful feeling,” says Andrew.
Mike Bechet watched the IPL 2022 final from his home in Johanessburg. He is no longer with Maritzburg College. He sought new challenges and is now with Jeppe Boys’ High School. Bechet and David Miller have kept in touch over the years.
Graham Ford watched the match from his Ireland base. For most of the week, Ford is constantly on the grind, coaching. Not so much on Sundays. Ford, like Bechet, has kept in touch with David. He is one of the people David turns to for help. With great pride, he watched David set Gujarat Titans up for victory.
Sarel Erwee could not watch David Miller play in the IPL final. He was playing a match in England, part of his preparation for the Proteas Test tour in August-September. He watched the highlights of the match later. Erwee knew the results beforehand, but he still developed goosebumps as he watched his put together a well-measured chase.
All three have a shared sentiment, one that is not different to that held by Andrew Miller. There is a feeling of vindication.
“David showed that form is temporary and class is permanent. I know it’s a cliche, but yes…” says Erwee. “He also showed the power of resilience and sticking to the cause. He had a few difficult seasons, but he kept his eyes on the prize.”
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