David Steele (cricketer)

David Steele
Personal information
Full name
David Stanley Steele
Born (1941-09-29) 29 September 1941 (age 83)
Bradeley, Stoke-on-Trent, England
NicknameCrime
BattingRight-handed
BowlingSlow left-arm orthodox
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 462)31 July 1975 v Australia
Last Test17 August 1976 v West Indies
Only ODI (cap 36)26 August 1976 v West Indies
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1963–1978Northamptonshire
1979–1981Derbyshire
1982–1984Northamptonshire
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 8 1 500 260
Runs scored 673 8 22,346 4,381
Batting average 42.06 8.00 32.47 23.05
100s/50s 1/5 0/0 30/117 1/20
Top score 106 8 140* 109
Balls bowled 88 6 36,693 3,323
Wickets 2 0 623 81
Bowling average 19.50 24.89 28.27
5 wickets in innings 0 26 0
10 wickets in match 0 3 0
Best bowling 1/1 8/29 4/21
Catches/stumpings 7/– 0/– 546/– 91/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 19 July 2013

David Stanley Steele (born 29 September 1941)[1] is an English former international cricketer. Tony Greig picked him for England in 1975 when he was close to retirement from county cricket for Northamptonshire.

Steele, who was born in Bradeley, Stoke-on-Trent, was a middle-order batsman. In his eight Test matches, he played against fast bowlers including Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson for Australia; and Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Wayne Daniel and Vanburn Holder for the West Indies. His arrival followed a period of great difficulty for the national team mired in a difficult 1975 Ashes series. It led to the phrase, coined by Clive Taylor of The Sun, that he was like a "bank clerk who went to war".[2][3]

He was appointed as county captain of Derbyshire in 1979 but resigned after six weeks. He played for the club from 1979 to 1981.

  1. ^ Bateman, Colin (1993). If The Cap Fits. Tony Williams Publications. p. 155. ISBN 1-869833-21-X.
  2. ^ "Player Profile: David Steele". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 April 2010.
  3. ^ "The long-fingered Mr Gibbs". ESPNcricinfo. 29 September 2005. Retrieved 3 October 2018.