| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | David Stanley Steele | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1941-09-29)29 September 1941 (age 84) Bradeley, Stoke-on-Trent, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Crime | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Slow left-arm orthodox | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Test debut (cap 462) | 31 July 1975 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 17 August 1976 v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Only ODI (cap 36) | 26 August 1976 v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1963–1978 | Northamptonshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1979–1981 | Derbyshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1982–1984 | Northamptonshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source:ESPNcricinfo,19 July 2013 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
David Stanley Steele (born 29 September 1941)[1] is an English former internationalcricketer.Tony Greig picked him forEngland in 1975 when he was close to retirement fromcounty cricket forNorthamptonshire.
Steele, who was born inBradeley, Stoke-on-Trent, was amiddle-order batsman. In his eightTest matches, he played against fast bowlers includingDennis Lillee andJeff Thomson forAustralia; andAndy Roberts,Michael Holding,Wayne Daniel andVanburn Holder for theWest Indies. His arrival followed a period of great difficulty for the national team mired in a difficult1975 Ashes series. It led to the phrase, coined byClive Taylor ofThe Sun, that he was like a "bank clerk who went to war".[2][3]
He was appointed as county captain ofDerbyshire in 1979 but resigned after six weeks. He played for the club from 1979 to 1981.
Making his debut against Australia atLord's in 1975, Steele got lost in thepavilion as he went out to bat. He went down one too many flights of stairs and found himself in the basement toilets.[1] Once he did arrive at the crease, fast bowlerJeff Thomson gave him a typically Australian welcome. Eyeing Steele's prematurely greying hair at 33, Thomson asked: "Bloody hell, who've we got here,Groucho Marx?"[4]
That summer, however, Steele scored 50, 45, 73, 92, 39 and 66 against the Australians in his trademark staunch, courageous and steady manner. When presenting Steele his cap in the dressing room before his debut, captainTony Greig felt tears fall on his hand and considered that "Here was a man who would fight for me to the death".[5] His ability to stand up to hostile fast bowling, which other batsmen had struggled to cope with, and attack with thehook shot, raised morale among his teammates and spectators alike.
In the following year, he commenced against the even more fearsomefast bowling attack of the West Indies by scoring a century atTrent Bridge. Oddly, he was overlooked for that winter's tour to India based on the theory that he could not playspin bowlers. He duly returned to county cricket and finished his career back at Northampton in 1984 having scored over 22,000 runs, of which 673 came in Tests.[1]
Steele was votedBBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1975, and was named as one of theWisden Cricketers of the Year in 1976.
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Derbyshire cricket captain 1979 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | BBC Sports Personality of the Year 1975 | Succeeded by |