In 1975, cricketer David Steele, who became an unlikely hero for England in the losing Ashes series that year, was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year by Radio Times readers, ahead of athlete Alan Pascoe and swimmer David Wilkie. Accepting the trophy from Michael Morris, Baron Killanin, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), he said, “This has been a wonderful year for me, in more ways than one.”
Steele, 33, had been plucked from the relative obscurity of the Northamptonshire middle-order by newly-appointed England captain Tony Greig, who had succeeded the previous incumbent, Mike Denness, during the disastrous First Test at Edgbaston, which England lost by an innings and 85 runs. He later said of his selection, “It was my benefit year, so it was the first time I hadn’t thought about cricket too much; all I was thinking about was earning a bob or two, so when I did bat I felt relaxed and got runs. But it was still a surprise getting picked by England.”
Steele made his England debut, batting at number three, in the Second Test at Lord’s. Grey-haired and bespectacled, he would later be described by the cricket correspondent of ‘The Sun’, Clive Taylor, as “the bank clerk who went to war”, but made an immediate impact, getting of the mark by hooking a waist-bouncer from Dennis Lillee behind square for four. Steele made 50 in the first innings and 45 in the second innings of the drawn Second Test, 73 and 92 in the drawn Third Test at Headingley (which was abandoned due to vandalism of the pitch) and 39 and 66 in the drawn Fourth Test at The Oval. In the series as a whole, against the likes of Lillee, Jeff Thomson and Max Walker, he had made 365 runs at an average of 60.83.
Staffordshire-born Steele would play just four more Test matches, against the West Indies in 1976, but made 106 in the first innings in the First Test at Trent Bridge. That maiden century, plus five half-centuries, contributed to a Test career total of 673 runs from 16 innings, at an average of 42.06.