Geoff Miller
Former England Cricketer
About Geoff
Former England cricketer, Geoff Miller, spent twenty years on the professional cricket circuit, representing Derbyshire, Essex, Natal and England, travelling to all the major Test playing countries and playing with or against all of the present day greats.In 2008 Geoff was selected as National selector by the England & Wales Cricket Board.Apart from cricket, Geoff's greatest attribute was the ability to keep his team mates amused with his hilarious dry northern humour, which he now brings to the after dinner speaking stage from his roots in Chesterfield. By virtue of the sport he was in, and the life he has led, Geoff now possesses a whole host of hilarious anecdotes and stories about himself and his colleagues that he relates in both, all-male or mixed company. Naturally, cricket is not the only subject to be put under the microscope in his search for amusement.
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Geoff Miller was an evergreen county off-spinner and reliable Test cricketer. He also happened to be involved in one of the most dramatic finishes to a Test match ever, when he pocketed a looping rebound off fellow slipper Chris Tavare to dismiss last man Jeff Thompson and seal victory by 3 runs in the Boxing Day Test of 1982.Miller had enjoyed success in the previous series down under, where his 23 Test wickets had come at just 15.04 each. However, despite such a fantastic performance with the ball in that series, Miller's place in the Test team was as much to do with his batting being superior to his contemporary off-spinners Eddie Hemmings and John Emburey. His record of 60 wickets in 34 Tests would seem to indicate this, although his Test average of 30.98 with the ball was superior to both these players, and such an average certainly bears comparison with the English spinners of the 1990's. His highest score of 98 in Tests (which he twice scored, once undefeated) only just places him behind Martyn Moxon and Alex Tudor in the list of English nearly centurions.
Miller's place in the history of his native county Derbyshire had been sealed when he hurtled from the non-strikers end to complete the single which won Derbyshire the first ever Natwest Trophy in a finish as exciting and close (Derbyshire won by virtue of losing fewer wickets) as could be. Miller ended his Derbyshire career on a high by being a regular member of the team which won the Sunday League in 1990. Although he turned down a pay-as-you-play deal for 1991, his departure was without ill-feeling, which can't be said of every cricketer who has left Derbyshire over the years (or indeed about his own first departure from Derbyshire at the end of 1986, when he left to join Essex).
Happily, Miller's retirement has brought him further success. His dry, understated humour makes him an entertaining after dinner speaker, and in his day job he has been an England selector since 2000, a tenure which has coincided which a marked upturn in the fortunes of the national side. Geoff is now in great demand at corporate events, company seminars, trade associations and service organisation dinners nationwide and overseas for his uncanny talent for making people laugh.As Ian Botham's ex-room-mate for five years, he has a few funny stories to tell about that!He also has the ability to laugh at himself. As the Sun newspaper once said:" The England team needs Geoff Miller like Parliament needs Screaming Lord Sutch!"
