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Neil Miller is our jack-of-all-trades and he's master of most of them too.  Like some at our Club, Neil has been playing cricket in West Sussex since he was a lad.  The rest of us played at school of course, enjoyed life and then tried again when we reached 40.

Stylish

Neil like Mr Chambers who will feature later in the series (after we’ve shown the text to our lawyers), old Windy followed his dad John and played (as a colt and for the senior teams) at Horsham which explains why he’s such a correct player.  A left-hander to boot (always look more stylish apparently), he’s certainly one of our more graceful players so if he makes a big score it’s usually worth watching as he has most shots in the Peter Jones text book.  One innings playing for Thakeham at West Hoathly where he made a ton opening stands out for me amongst several.

Neil has been captain of the 1^st XI because he earned the respect of his fellow players and was also generally better than most when it comes to getting the best out of the team.

Predominantly a batsman now, his medium-paced bowling was once very useful and a fundamental part of Horsham & West Chiltington sides but like many of us old farts, it only now is displayed in the odd friendly game.  He’s also one of the best glovesmen at the club but prefers again these days to leave that role to the youngsters.

Well-qualified

He originally played for West Chiltington & in the odd Thakeham game pre merger; he's also lived in Thakeham for some years.  He’s therefore ideally placed to be our second chairman following Mr Hardisty who we featured last week.  David is a tough act to follow but Neil has already begun accelerating projects to take us to the next level. 

Colts involvement

Neil has three boys all in the colts section so OneClub is close to his heart too. He has been a coach up at Horsham where he coached with Hasler for three or four years starting with the crèche with his twins plus Ben and Jack Hasler.  He actually met his business partner at Horsham where he coached his son.  Neil then returned to West Chilt when he got the call from Jefferies and Jones as the colts section was mushrooming fast.  Before he returned here, there was one occasion when Miller & Hasler brought their strong Horsham side down to the Rec. and watched them get dismantled by his twins, Bowen-Davies, a few Reeves and Jack Hasler!  Probably the first occasion when WC&T knew they had some useful colts.  Tom Chambers was in the Horsham side that day and got stick from start to finish.  He’s now back here too of course.

Sociable chap

Neil has been very active in bringing many of our social events to fruition notably every West Chilt. Village Hall Annual Dinner and the Sussex CCC visit here in 2007 when a strong side came and challenged our 1^st XI.  In recent years he’s struggled with a number of injuries – he was hit in the face a few years ago and now wears a helmet like Walter every time he bats; he also dislocated his shoulder on a weekend in Oxford – Hasler not uninvolved again.

Voyeur

Away from the Rec., Neil enjoys watching his boys play rugby and football and on Saturdays, he waits nervously by the radio to hear if the Albion are out of the relegation zone of whatever league they’re in.  He’s also an excellent cook like Mrs Miller and a tremendous host if you ever been fortunate enough to be invited around there for some grub and a few jars.

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