Unlikely hero who stood up to Aussies and won hearts

HE WAS the bank clerk who went to war and half a century later England need another helping of David Steele’s bulldog spirit.

- By Mike Walters

Greying, bespectacled and approaching his 34th birthday, Steele marched out to face the venom of Australia’s pace demons Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson on his Test debut at Lord’s 50 years ago tomorrow and his defiance lifted the mood of a nation.

Famously, on his way to the middle, Steele missed the turning through the Long Room, dropped down one flight of stairs too many and found himself outside the gents’ cloakroom.

On the outfield he passed Thomson, who greeted him with the cheerful one-liner: “Bloody hell, who have we got here then... Father Christmas?”

And Lillee, mindful that Steele had taken a scenic route from the dressing room to the crease, added: “Where the hell have you been, Groucho?”

England were soon in dire straits at 49-4 but, in an era predating helmets and protective body armour, Steele’s first runs in Test cricket came from a full-blooded dismissive pull to the boundary off Lillee and the crowd loved it.