Dictionary of National Biography, 1927 supplement/Steel, Allan Gibson
STEEL, ALLAN GIBSON (1858–1914), cricketer, was born at Liverpool 24 September 1858, the son of Joseph Steel, of Liverpool and Kirkwood, Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire, by his wife, Margaret Gibson, who came of a Lanarkshire family. He was the sixth of seven brothers, four of whom played at one time or another in the Lancashire county cricket team. Allan Steel was sent to Marlborough, where he was in the eleven from 1874 to 1877. He was regarded as a schoolboy cricketer of exceptional promise, and when in the autumn of 1877 he went up to Trinity Hall, he was considered not only certain of a place in the Cambridge eleven, but likely to add considerably to the strength of the side. This forecast was amply fulfilled. The Cambridge team of 1878 won all its engagements, defeating Oxford with ease, and ending up with a decisive victory over the first Australian eleven to visit this country. In this series of triumphs Steel took a leading part—indeed his slow bowling was one of the features of the cricket of 1878. Breaking both ways and combining clever variation of pace with an accurate length, he was consistently effective against the best batsmen of the day. For that season he had a fine record of 164 wickets for 9 runs each. He also made runs constantly, and headed the Cambridge averages with 37.
Steel, though he remained for some years in the front rank of amateur bowlers and did many good performances, was never quite as deadly again, possibly because batsmen became more familiar with his methods. He was four years in the Cambridge eleven, and was captain in 1880. As he grew older his batting improved, and his place in the Gentlemen's eleven v. the Players, as well as in the early contests with Australia, was always assured. He made 42 in the first test match at Kennington Oval on 6 September 1880, and, though he did little in the single test match of 1882, he played a great innings of 148 for England at Lord's against the strong Australian team of 1884.
Steel was called to the bar (Inner Temple) in 1883, and as the claims of his profession increased he found little time for first-class cricket. His appearances were confined to important occasions, such as the Gentlemen v. Players matches, and special county fixtures. It was noticeable that the want of regular match practice seemed to make little difference to his skill, for his isolated efforts were often attended with great success. In 1886, for example, though he only went in four times for Lancashire, he made 232 runs for three times out, and in 1887, when he only played once for his county, he made 32 and 105 against Surrey.
Steel was a short thick-set man, full of confidence and vigour. As a batsman, he possessed no special graces of style, but the quickness of his footwork and the power of his hitting made him always attractive to watch. His career as a cricketer was comparatively short, but for a season or two his all-round ability made him second only to W. G. Grace [q.v.] as a match-winning force. He visited Australia with the side taken out by the Hon. Ivo Bligh (afterwards eighth Earl of Darnley) in the winter of 1881. He was president of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1902, and his few contributions to the literature of the game show that he had a gift of writing pleasantly on his own subject.
As a barrister, Steel had at one time a considerable practice in Liverpool, chiefly in commercial cases. He took silk in 1901, and was appointed recorder of Oldham in 1904. He married in 1886 Georgiana Dorothy, daughter of John Philip Thomas, of Warneford Place. Highworth, Wiltshire. His wife was related to the three brothers Studd, accomplished cricketers, who were his contemporaries at Cambridge. He had two sons, both of whom lost their lives in the European War. Steel died in London 15 June 1914.
[Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack, 1915; private information.]