Australian Services cricket team
The team played matches against English cricket sides of both military and civilian origins to celebrate the end of the war.
These matches were aimed at increasing morale in the war-ravaged English cities and as a means of reviving cricket after the conclusion of fighting.
[1][2] Plum Warner organised a series of matches between England and Australian servicemen, known as the Victory Tests, to celebrate the end of hostilities.
As a result, the Australian Services cricket team was formed under the leadership of Warrant Officer Lindsay Hassett to compete in the Victory Tests.
[8] The spinner Reg Ellis and opening batsman Jack Pettiford had not prior experience at first-class level, but played for their states in Australia after making their debut for the Services.
In between overs he drank glasses of glucose and water to keep his energy up,[11] but when he was unable to bowl Miller took his place and demonstrated what a valuable pace bowler he would become in the future himself.
They batted steadily although none of their specialist batsmen managed to pass 57 and reached 4/205,[18] before Miller came on as the fifth bowler and bowled his Great Massingham pilot colleague Bill Edrich for 45,[19] precipitating an English collapse from 4/200 to 267.
[18] On the final morning, England batted steadily and their Test openers Len Hutton and Cyril Washbrook took the score to 52 before leg spinner Cec Pepper removed both.
[18][28][29][30][31][32] The last pre-war series between England and Australia in 1938 had been an attritional and hard-nosed contest, but in the afterglow of war victory, the cricketers played flamboyantly with abandon in front of a packed stadium.
The Second Victory Test was played at Bramall Lane in Sheffield and started on 23 June, where the grandstands were damaged by German air raids.
[35] Australia moved to be 0/23 at stumps on the first day, but lost wickets steadily on the second morning, and were all out for 147; Keith Carmody scored 42, the only contribution beyond 21 by a batsman, while George Pope took 5/58.
[37][40][41] His efforts led to calls for him to start taking his bowling seriously, instead of simply jogging in releasing the ball, especially from former South African representative Bob Crisp.
[39][42] Miller's spell helped reduce the hosts to 7/122, a lead of only 261, but a rearguard fightback pushed the total to 190, leaving the Australians with a target of 330.
[39][47][50] C B Fry opined that Miller's innings was "superbly stroked and directed cover driving of the pace bowling formed the most telling and majestic feature".
Against a swinging and seaming ball, Miller struck 14 from the first over that he faced and went on to finish 77 not out in a display that featured strong cutting and driving.
However, he did not get much support from the lower order, with none of the last five batsmen passing single figures, including two run outs,[60] and Australia could manage only 173 in 59 overs.
Due to the unexpectedly strong success of the Victory Tests, the government of Australia, led by foreign minister Doc Evatt, ordered the Australian Services to delay their demobilisation.
With the team raising so much money for war charities, the government directed them to travel home via India and Ceylon for further fundraising matches for the Red Cross.
[73][74] In the first match against India at Bombay's Brabourne Stadium, regarded as unofficial Tests, Hassett won the toss and elected to bat.
India reached 8/239 and were only 47 runs ahead, leaving Australia in striking distance of victory, but Gul Mohammad and Amir Elahi added 51 for the ninth wicket and pushed the total to 304.
The team, mostly made up of RAAF personnel, had been ill with food poisoning and dysentery, and travelled across the Indian subcontinent via long train journeys.
[79] Miller refused to plot against Hassett and the dispute ended when Squadron Leader Stan Sismey arranged for a RAAF plane already in India to transport the team.
[79][81][82] The team was scheduled to play East Zone in Calcutta, but the city was gripped in deadly riots as independence activists agitated against British rule.
On the final day, Miller's friend Denis Compton, who was playing for East Zone while on deployment with the British Army in India, was nearing a century as his team closed in on victory.
[41][89][90][93] Captaining the team, Miller took 3/19 and 1/8 in a match against South Zone in Madras, the Australians' only win on Indian soil, by six wickets.
[72] Not wanting to wait a month for the next boat and a fortnight's sea voyage, the Australians returned to Perth by hitching a ride on a B-24 Liberator.
The pilot of the RAAF plane had already promised 14 friends a lift so that they would not be stuck in India for another six months, so the Australian team sat on the floor of the aircraft.
[103][104] The military men had another difficult time against New South Wales, as their opponents made 7/551 declared, with Test batsman Sid Barnes scoring a century.
[99][107][108] Former leading Test batsman Alan Kippax opined that "Australia has unearthed a new champion",[109] claiming that he was finer than Jack Gregory and saying that "few batsmen I have watched have had his ability to blend beauty and power".
As the military men played poorly in Australia, the national selectors concluded that their achievements against England must have been against weak opposition,[105] and only Hassett and Miller were selected for the Australian tour of New Zealand.
