David Capel facts for kids

David John Capel (born 6 February 1963 – died 2 September 2020) was a well-known English cricket player. He played for his home team, Northamptonshire County Cricket Club, and also for the England national team. Some cricket writers thought he would be the next great all-rounder, like the famous player Ian Botham.

David Capel was a true legend at Northamptonshire. He spent almost 32 years with the club. First, he was a player, and then he became a coach. He passed away in 2020 at 57 years old after battling an illness.

David Capel's Cricket Journey

David Capel was a very enthusiastic player. He was mainly a batsman who also bowled. Because he did both, he sometimes batted lower down the batting order.

Playing for Northamptonshire

Capel joined Northamptonshire in 1980. He started as an "apprentice cricketer" with not much experience. His first big game, called a first-class match, was in 1981. He played against the team from Sri Lanka.

He played in 313 first-class matches in total. In these games, he scored 12,202 runs and took 546 wickets. He also played in 345 List A matches. There, he scored 7,011 runs and took 237 wickets.

Most of his playing time was with Northamptonshire. He played 270 first-class matches and 300 List A matches for them. He helped his team win the NatWest Trophy in 1992. David Capel stopped playing first-class cricket in 1998.

Playing for England

David Capel made his international Test match debut in 1987. This was against Pakistan at Headingley. He was the first player born in Northamptonshire in 77 years to play Test cricket for England. The last one was George Thompson.

In his first Test match, England was struggling. He came to bat when the score was 31 runs for 5 wickets. He scored 53 runs against tough bowlers like Imran Khan and Wasim Akram. This was the highest score for England in that innings.

In his fourth Test match, he scored his highest ever Test score of 98 runs. This was in Karachi against Pakistan in 1987–88. However, after this, he had some lower scores. He ended up playing 15 Test matches and 23 One Day Internationals (ODIs) for England.

Capel was part of the England team that won in Jamaica in 1989–90. This was England's first Test win against the West Indies in 16 years. He also managed to get Viv Richards, a famous West Indies batsman, out three times in his career.

After His Playing Days

After he stopped playing cricket in 1998, David Capel continued his career in the sport.

Coaching Roles

In 1999, he became the director of excellence for the Northamptonshire County Cricket Club. He also took charge of the club's academy, helping young players. In 2006, he became the head coach of Northamptonshire. He took over from Kepler Wessels. He coached the team until 2012.

On 2 July 2012, his time as head coach ended. This finished his 32-year connection with the club.

After leaving Northamptonshire, Capel became an assistant coach. From 2013 to 2015, he worked with the England women's cricket team. In October 2016, he became the head coach of the Bangladesh women's cricket team. He coached them until 2018.

In May 2020, David Capel was honored. He was added to the Northamptonshire CCC Hall of Fame.

David Capel passed away on 2 September 2020, after battling an illness for two years.