Brian Mervin McMillan, born on 22 December 1963 in Welkom, Orange Free State, is a name synonymous with South African cricket. He grew up in Carletonville and his career spanned from 1991 to 1998, during which he represented South Africa in 38 Test matches and 78 One Day Internationals.
Brian McMillan in action.
McMillan only started his international career in his late 20s, but he made a huge impact in a short space of time, which saw him rated as the world’s No 1 all-rounder and slip catcher in the mid-1990s, writes Alasdair Fraser. In the mid-1990s, Brian McMillan was rated the best all-rounder in the world. Hence, he won prestigious South African Cricket Annual Cricketer of the Year awards in 1991 and 1996.
South Africa was lucky to have many all-rounders in that era. Brian McMillan was a right-handed batsman who can bowl right-arm medium-pace bowling with a decent pace. Also, he was considered a very safe slip fielder.
The big man holds the highest percentage of catches per Test for an outfielder in South Africa Test cricket history. He often gets an unsettling bounce with his medium-fast steady bowling, with a sound defensive batting technique.
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He was unique, cool, and calm, and served him very constantly and earned an off & one promotion in the top order. He played his first Test when South Africa returned to international cricket in 1992 against Indian.
Early Career and Debut
In domestic cricket, he represented Transvaal for four seasons from 1984-85 to 1988-89, and Western Province from 1989-90 until his retirement in the 1999-00 season. The fact that McMillan moved to the Cape after breaking into Transvaal’s ‘Mean Machine’ during the mid-1980s was applauded.
Under another fierce competitor, his captain and cricketing legend, the late Clive Rice, McMillan showed he belonged in that Transvaal side - arguably the finest provincial outfit in the history of South African cricket. It’s where that hardness, which was a hallmark of his play for the Proteas, was polished. Any Australian team would have picked him.
In November 1992, Brian McMillan started his international career against India at Durban at home. That was a historic moment for him, as South Africa’s first home Test match in more than 20 years. He made only 3 runs in the first innings before Prabhakar took the catch off Shastri’s bowling.
McMillan took 3 for 52 and left a good impression on selectors, who were looking to rebuild the South African Cricket team. He was a very important member of the South African cricket team post their re-admittance to world cricket in 1991.
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The motion of events that took place, which fast-tracked South Africa’s readmittance to the international scene, could not have come at a better time for Big Mac. He had matured as a batsman and it would give the Proteas a valuable weapon in their arsenal as they navigated their merry way along a path of new experiences of sub-continent pitches and new teams that South Africa had never played before.
He was an integral member of that 1992 Cricket World Cup side that sailed into the unknown and went on to surprise the world with a semi-final against England, which would famously be decided by the rain. Big Mac was at the coal face during that exciting run chase.
Perhaps it’s fitting that an enduring image of Big Mac is the one of him clean bowling and shattering the stumps of England’s Sir Ian Botham at the 1992 Cricket World Cup.
Brian McMillan 1st Test Hundred | Pakistan Tour South Africa 1994-95
Key Performances and Statistics
His ODI record spoke volumes and he was an integral member of a South African side that dominated the 50-over format throughout the 1990s, but it was in the Test arena that McMillan showed his true value as an all-rounder.
Whenever South Africa required a wicket, he produced the breakthrough. His captain Kepler Wessels’s first observation after an epic match at Bridgetown in 1991-92, where South Africa was wrecked by West Indies fast bowler “We needed Big Mac,” who was injured before the tour.
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Against Pakistan, in 1994-95 at Johannesburg, he scored a brilliant hundred (113 runs) and took 4 wickets. McMillan continued his good form against Zimbabwe at Harare, scoring 98 Not out and made another hundred against England at Johannesburg, and took 5 wickets.
At a time when Botham, Kapil Dev, Imran Khan, and the legendary Malcolm Marshall had retired, McMillan’s performances with bat and ball saw him claim the No 1 spot - albeit for a short space of time as he approached retirement in 1998. He retired with a batting average just shy of 40, which isn’t bad for a strike bowler who had a knack of knocking over crucial wickets.
What made McMillan extra special, though, was that he was exceptional in all three key disciplines of the Test cricket, with the third being slip catching. Big Mac had huge hands that made a cricket ball look more like a squash ball. Edges often got swallowed up with ease.
McMillan took just 18 Tests to score 1 000 runs and take 50 wickets.
Brian McMillan Career Stats
Here's a summary of Brian McMillan's career statistics:
| Format | Matches | Runs | Average | Wickets | Bowling Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 38 | 1968 | 39.36 | 75 | 33.82 |
| ODI | 78 | 841 | 23.36 | 70 | 36.98 |
Brian McMillan Recent Form
Here's a summary of Brian McMillan's recent form:
| Match | Runs | Wickets |
|---|---|---|
| SA vs ENG, Test | 54 (120) | 0-22 |
| SA vs ENG, Test | 7 (25) | 0-24 |
| SA vs AUS, Test | 87 (165) | 0-33 |
Later Life and Career
In the final Test match, he scored 7 & 54 but didn’t get any wickets. After retirement, McMillan has also been a professional teacher at Durban university.
McMillan has also been a professional teacher in Cape Town. Presently heads an office automation firm in Cape Town.
Brian McMillan will be remembered in the history of South Africa Cricket. Brian McMillan’s hands go up as a half chance goes to ground ..
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