Tristan Stubbs credits David Miller for shaping his finishing role
Tristan Stubbs praised David Miller for mentoring him and shaping his role as a finisher in high-pressure games. Stubbs highlighted their strong understanding at the crease after their crucial partnerships in Super Over matches against Afghanistan and India
Hyderabad: It is easy to understand why Tristan Stubbs would gravitate towards Paarl Royals captain David Miller.
For years, Miller was one of the youngest members of the Proteas squad. Free-spirited without a care in the world, he loved surfing and teeing off on the golf course in equal measure.
Sounds much like the way Stubbs, 25, goes about his business now. They also happen to perform the same role for the national team – finishing off innings in high-pressure situations.
And instead of viewing “Stubbo” as a threat, Miller embraced the youngster from Knysna and took him under his wing after he joined the Proteas back in 2022.
It was a full-circle moment for Stubbs as he had grown up trying to imitate his idol Miller every time he walked to the crease for Grey High School in Gqeberha.
“I love batting with Dave [Miller]. I pretty much watched him through my junior years and tried to mould my game around Dave and the way he plays at the backend,” Stubbs said.
They have both matured in the interim, with Miller now married and a father to a young boy, Ben, and Stubbs graduating to Sunrisers Eastern Cape captain. But at heart, their relationship is still as strong as ever.
It was certainly evident when they batted together in the double Super Over contest against Afghanistan, when Stubbs smashed a six off the final delivery to tie the game for the second time.
Stubbs followed it by launching a six off the first ball in the second Super Over before Miller assumed control by hitting two more sixes to get the Proteas over the line by the narrowest of margins.
The high-intensity power-hitting display contrasted with their 35-run partnership off 21 balls against India in the first Super Eights clash last Sunday.
Stubbs adopted a more measured approach after Pretoria Capitals star Dewald Brevis was dismissed and opted to rebuild with Miller before launching an attack again. He was even more calculated after Miller departed for 63 off 35 balls in the 16th over, before finishing strongly in the final over to remain unbeaten on 44 off 24 balls.
“You can’t just try to go too early, then you all blow out. It is about managing the situation,” Stubbs said.
“We still had a lot of time. Five overs in a T20 game is a lot of balls and can make a big difference. We think so much alike about the game and about our role, it is pretty much similar. I have chewed his ear off over the years and I love the way he goes about it,” he said.
“We speak a lot about batsmanship, which sometimes gets lost because everyone wants you to hit from ball one, and you can lose the value of your wicket. Myself and Dave think alike, so it has been great over the years to learn from that,” Stubbs signed off.
