David Millers closes door on Test cricket, ends first-class career

David Miller joined the league of modern day cricketers who give more weightage to limited overs cricket as he announced his decision to give first-class a miss in order prolong his career as a one-day and T20 cricketer.

David Miller joined the league of modern day cricketers who give more weightage to limited overs cricket as he announced his decision to give first-class a miss in order prolong his career as a one-day and T20 cricketer.

"It was a tough decision to make," Miller said. "I have always loved playing red ball cricket but I have decided that I would, in future, like to concentrate on white ball cricket to make sure that I am in a position to give myself the best opportunity to play for the Proteas in the format that I love.

Miller represented Knights in South Africa's first-class competition and has scored 3342 runs at an average of 36.32 in his 10-year-long career. Despite Miller’s decent first-class record, he was never looked at as a test cricketer. His chances were always limited to ODIs and T20Is, in which he made a name for himself while playing for South Africa and in various T20 leagues across the globe.

Miller who has represented South Africa in 109 ODIs, disclosed his desires of cementing a spot in the 2019 World Cup squad. This is an important decision for me, especially with the World Cup looming next year. I will also be available to play for the Dolphins in all limited-overs competitions and will give it my all to help them win trophies this season."

"It is disappointing to lose David from our pool of potential Test players," Cricket South Africa Chief Executive Thabang Moroe said. "At the age of 29 he still has many years of good cricket left in him in all formats but at the same time, we have to understand that he wants to throw his full weight into helping the Proteas to win the ICC World Cup.

"He has time on his hands to resume his first-class career in due course and I sincerely hope that we have not seen the last of him in red ball cricket where he has shown his undeniable talents in the past," he added.