John Steele

Who was John Steele?

John William Jackson Steele was an English cricketer. Steele was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium pace.

Steele first represented Hampshire while staying in Winchester as an Army Chaplain, having made a name playing for the Army cricket team. Steele made his first-class debut against Gloucestershire, a match in which he scored his highest first-class score of 44. During the same year Steele played for Hampshire against the touring Australians, who featured the great Don Bradman.

Steele would represent Hampshire in seventeen first-class matches until July 1939, with his final first-class match coming against Northamptonshire. Steele was a handy lower order batsman, scoring 406 runs at an average of 16.91. With his medium pace Steele took 57 wickets at an average of 26.64 with best bowling figures of 6-62.

Steele also represented the Army in two first-class matches against Oxford University in 1938 and Cambridge University in 1939.

With the onset of the Second World War first-class cricket was stopped, bringing an end to Steele's career.