Lexie Miller's 'labour of love'

LOOKING dapper in a Brigade Cricket Club blazer and colourful tie, Lexie Miller's looks and sprightly attitude belie his 83 years.

All but 30 of those years have been spent married to Lila, the girl he met at a dance in the Memorial Hall way back when.

Lexie, who has received many awards throughout his life, for his dedication to St Columb's Cathedral and to cricket, affectionately jokes: "53 years of marriage to Lila - and they haven't given me a medal for that."

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"I'm the one who should get the medal for putting up with you," she quips back.

As anyone who has met Lexie Miller will tesify, he is one of life's true gentlemen, a modest and humble man with a gentle sense of humour, who is genuinely amazed at the high regard in which others hold him. His views come from a time when cricket was played by men for whom honesty was a code of honour.

When people use the phrase, 'It's not cricket', these days it's an anachronism, it belongs to another time. People no longer 'walk' automatically when the ball brushes the edge of the bat and finds its way into the hands of a fielder. Nor will the fielders hold their hands up when they know their 'catch' wasn't clean.

Honesty

But the old code survives in men like Lexie Miller, for whom honesty is at the root of everything.

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That honesty, along with loyalty, selfless hard work, and the esteem he has generated among peers was responsible for him becoming one of the first people to receive Maundy Money from the Queen when she presented it in Ireland for the first time. And it was why he - alongside just four others from throughout Ireland - was selected in the autumn of 2009 to be awarded commemorative medals marking the International Cricket Council's centenary.

A man who accepts that time waits for no-one, Lexie is nowadays trying to adapt to changing times, and is learning how to negotiate the information superhighway of the internet after getting a laptop computer two weeks ago.

The modern computer is a world away from when he worked for Londonderry Corporation, where he "was handed a ready reckoner, a percentage reckoner and a pencil".

It's slow going but he's getting there, he says.

"I can look up flights and check the Cricket Ireland website."

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Apart from his devotion to his wife, son Adrian and daughter Vanessa, and his grandchildren, cricket has been Lexie's life.

Growing up in Belview Avenue, not that far from City of Derry's Duncreggan Road ground, Lexie found himself drifting into a romance with the game of international stars like Donald Bradman and more locally based heroes like the famous EDR Shearer.

Love Affair

His first walk onto the wicket began a love affair with the sport that has lost none of its romance over the intervening decades. His enthusiasm is as great as ever, and he has an almost boyish twinkle in his eye as he describes meeting some of the greats of the game. Those names included Garfield Sobers, Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border.

He is surrounded by mementos and photographs and loves to look at them and remember not just the occasion but the kindness of the people the pictures show him standing beside.

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He met Gary Sobers at a Limavady Cricket Club celebration dinner on May 23, 1967, which marked "the visit of Garfield Sobers and Rohan Kanhai and an Irish XI."

Lexie has cherished a menu from that historic occasion, signed by the great man.

Another photograph shows him standing beside modern English fast bowler Steve Harmison.

"There were all these people standing about collecting autographs and they were very rude," he recalls. "This was at Trent Bridge. Steve Harmison came over to talk to me and these people were calling at him but he told them he was talking to me and they'd have to wait. He told me they were 'professionals' who sold stuff on ebay. He was really courteous. I told him I thought he'd be picked by England and five days later he was named in the England squad."

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Seeing him getting his picture taken with Harmison, West Indian legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul came over and said: "Why not take me, I take a good photo?'"

But the highlight was being allowed to walk onto the playing pitch during a break.

"The groundsman let me out onto the wicket. I had said earlier I'd love to see it. He asked me what I'd do with it, and I said a light roller might work and he said that's what he'd do. To be honest I just said the first thing that came into my head, it's different there. You want to see the stuff they have for the wickets. It was a wonderful experience."

Naturally, a photograph records the occasion.

He also learned at Trent Bridge just how small the modern cricket world has become.

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"I just went into the ground and heard my name. And who was it? James and Junior."

Touched

The McBrine twins are among the many hundreds of cricketing greats whose lives have touched on Lexie Miller's since he was first introduced to the sport. But of all the giants of the game in Ireland, it was Lexie Miller's name that was selected when the ICC chose just five Irish recipients of the Centenary Medal last year.

And even in these days when people all too commonly dispute umpiring decisions, no-one would argue with that particular call.

Lexie himself, however, is still overwhelmed by the honour.

He told the annual dinner of the North West Cricket Union, held at the White Horse on November 13, 2009: "To be equated with such highly esteemed and notable personages and recipients as Derek Scott, the late John Wright, Siobhan McBennett and Cecil Walker makes me stand in awe, and very conscious of the great honour accorded me by Cricket Ireland."

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He also told the NWCU dinner: "My lifetime involvement in cricket...has been nothing short of a labour of love. I deeply appreciate my voluntary work in North West of Ireland cricket and the Derry Midweek League has been recognised through this Centenary Medal."

"I'm very humbled by it," he repeated this week. "It's something I'll always treasure and revere."

"Cricket's been my life. I called it a labour of love, but really there was no labour involved. I've loved every minute of it."

Since first joining City of Derry many years ago, he has made many lifelong friends, and has happy memories of the likes of Jim Wallace, Angus Platt and Edmund Kerr. His early work with the Midweek League also brought him into close contact with men like Tommy Orr, Willie McCarron, Bobby Torrens and Alec McBrine. Another man who stood out was the late Joe McCarter, who, according to Lexie, "personified everything good about cricket", while Sam McConnell is another he holds in very high regard.

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And he was delighted at the recent NWCU dinner to see the Club Person of the Year award being lifted by Ardmore stalwart Bobby Brolly.

"He's been a backbone for Ardmore."

His closest friend for many years has been Bertie Simpson who is involved with Brigade Cricket Club - together they formed the Midweek Mafia, who collected donations for many local charities. A total of 23 charities have benefitted from the most recent collections.

"I still see Bertie all the time; he is a man utterly without deceit, the best friend I have ever had. We are two cricket lovers. Sam, I've known from working with him for over 50 years. He's now president of the Derry Midweek League. They have good officers there now, Victor McClintock is chairman, Drew Downey is vice chairman, David Caldwell is secretary and Robert Thompson, treasurer. It's a wonderful committee."

Now Patron of the Derry Midweek League and vice president of the North West of Ireland Cricket Union, Lexie continues to champion the cause of the sport he loves, which he believes brings with it a cameraderie and builds friendships that last a lifetime.

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But, like everything else, the traditional game of cricket is changing, and for the oldest of reasons.

"Money's changed the game. It's influenced clubs and I feel club loyalty has gone now."

Another irresistible force for change was Ireland's success in the World Cup and Twenty/20 tournaments, and players from Ireland, including some from the North West like William Porterfield and Boyd Rankin are proving that they can hold their own on the county circuit.

Lexie says: "The World Cup has opened up cricket and now they are talking about Ireland maybe holding a test match. England have already taken Ed Joyce, and Eoin Morgan and now they are looking at Boyd Rankin. And there are some wonderful youngsters, the pipeline is getting better but money permeates all facets of life."

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Asked is this meant professionalism had made things worse for cricket, he ponders before replying: "It's hard to say if it's good or bad. Club loyalty's been killed. When players move from one club to another, their families move too. There are few boys with the one club all their days. But nothing stands still. You have to accept change, and cricket will still be popular. Also, young boys are moving into English cricket and English clubs are now aware of the potential of Irish players."

Asked who were the best players he had seen over the years, he doesn't hesitate.

No doubt it's a question he's tired of giving an answer to, but he's much too polite to say that.

Instead, he responds: "My favourite players have been the twins, James and Junior. They have been consistent over the years. They could have made it in county cricket. Decker (Curry) was another great player, but I most enjoyed watching the twins. The McBrine family have been great friends of the Midweek League."

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With the McBrines still in full flow, Donemana are thriving, but the story for another old club which has churned out good cricketers for generations is not such a positive one.

Killymallaght recently revealed that they are dropping out, much to Lexie's dismay.

"I was very disheartened to hear about Killymallaght going out of cricket. It's sad because sometimes they don't come back, and it's such a lovely club. I am always distressed to hear anything bad about a club."

At the age of 83, Lexie would be forgiven for putting his feet up and leaving the work to others, but while he's not as heavily involved these days, he certainly isn't planning to end his association with cricket.

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He insists: "I live and breathe it. I'm already booking tickets through Bertie Simpson to watch Australia play in Clontarf, and I'm also planning to watch Pakistan at Lords.

"I will still be about; wherever there's cricket in the North West, I'll not be that far away."

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