Former England and Northants cricketer David Capel, aged 57

Former England and Northamptonshire cricketer David Capel has died at the age of 57 following a long illness. All-rounder Capel, who played 15 Tests and 23 one-day internationals between 1987 and 1990, was diagnosed with a brain tumour two years ago and passed away at his home on Wednesday, Northamptonshire said in a statement. The club said on their Twitter account: “It is with incredibly heavy hearts that we announce the death of former Northamptonshire and England great David Capel at the age of 57.” Capel represented the county for the entirety of his playing career between 1981 and 1998, making 270 first-class appearances where he amassed 10,869 runs and took 467 wickets, while he played a further 300 List A matches. After he became the first Northamptonshire-born cricketer to represent England at Test level in 77 years when he faced Pakistan in the summer of 1987, he was among many tipped to succeed the great Ian Botham. Capel registered a half-century on debut and a 98 at Karachi in his fourth Test but he averaged just 15.58 in the middle-to-lower order while the 21 wickets he took with his medium pace came at a cost of 50.66 runs per scalp. The end of his playing days led to him running the Northants academy and in 2006 he was appointed as the club’s head coach, overseeing their run to Twenty20 Finals Day three years later. In 2011, they came within a whisper of promotion to Division One of the County Championship but they were pipped by one point by Surrey. A 33-year association between Northants and Capel came to an end in 2012, after which he had a stint as assistant coach of the England Women’s team.

Picture: Getty Images. David Capel became a coach after his playing career ended.