Cricket: Miller's blue joke at the SCG

SYDNEY - Colin Miller, as patriotic as he is zany, yesterday became undoubtedly the first blue-haired bowler to capture a test cricket scalp.

Miller spent 3 1/2 hours on Tuesday night dying his hair blue - Federation Blue he explained yesterday, after taking to the Sydney Cricket Ground looking like a police light in the bright sunshine.

He wrapped up the West Indies' first innings for 272 in the fifth test when he had tailender Courtney Walsh caught by Matthew Hayden.

It does not take much to deceive a batting bunny like Walsh - the hair alone might have been enough.

Walsh took one look and immediately stepped away from the crease, invoking laughter from the crowd.

He was laughing so hard himself he could not take strike.

But Miller had the last laugh when Walsh, playing in his last test in Australia, was out for four.

"It was just something to do to celebrate federation [Australia's Centenary of Federation]," Miller said.

Few who know him would have raised an eyebrow at his latest quirky display. Not for nothing did Miller earn the nickname Funky.

He has dyed his hair before - lemon when he made his test debut in Pakistan two years ago, and lightbulb white when he turned out for Tasmania in Brisbane last season.

Miller is an insomniac who lists his favourite drink as Scotch and Coke and who tasted the delights of piranha soup on a trip up the Amazon last year.

He is a cricketing nomad who has played for three states - Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania - and represented the Netherlands in an unofficial one-dayer before he played for Australia.

Miller is also unusual for making his test debut at the relatively late age of 34.

Only two other Australians in modern times - Bob Holland in 1984 and Trevor Hohns in 1988 - have been older.

The 36-year-old Miller is a joker, but his 59 wickets at an average of 25 in just 17 tests prove that when it comes down to serious business, the joke is on his opponents.