Richard Steeples (30 April 1873 – 2 August 1946), was an English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who played for

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

in 1897. Steeples was born at

Somercotes Somercotes is a village and civil parish in the district of Amber Valley in the English county of Derbyshire, close to the border with Nottinghamshire. It is a former mining village and was once surrounded by more than five pits. The village has ...

Alfreton Alfreton ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. The town was formerly a Norman Manor and later an Urban District. The population of the Alfreton parish was 7,971 at the 2011 Census. The villages of Ir ...

, the son of John Steeples, a coal miner. Steeples enjoyed a brief first-class career, playing three matches at county level during the 1897 season when the club was short of regular bowlers. He made his debut against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, in which he took three wickets, but Derbyshire lost the game by a single wicket. Steeples played just two more times in first-class cricket for Derbyshire, and took four wickets against

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

. Steeples was a right-handed batsman and played five innings in three first-class matches with an average of 4 and a top score of 16. He was a right-arm medium-fast bowler and took nine first-class wickets at an average of 23.77 and a best performance of 4 for 73.Dick Steeples at Cricket Archive
/ref> Steeples appeared on a regular basis in

Minor Counties cricket The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

for

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

from 1897 to 1908. He also played various miscellaneous games in South Wales. Steeples died in Somercotes at the age of 73. His brother,

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Albert ...

, played one game for Derbyshire during the 1899 season.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Steeples, Dick 1873 births 1946 deaths English cricketers Derbyshire cricketers Monmouthshire cricketers People from Somercotes