TSpin, of course, is late to the tale. We’re up in the scorer’s box at the Oval, two days from Surrey District Championship victory over Kent, two days before visiting Hampshire to close proceedings in April. Cameron Steele has already spoken to the Times and Cricketer about his 20 wickets for the defending champions at 12.15 after three overs, his leg-spin making him the country’s leading wicket-taker. After we finish talking, a Cricinfo journalist will run through a set of similar questions for the 28-year-old.
Yes, in a county made up of England internationals, Indian Premier League holders and overseas professionals, Steel – a suave, unassuming all-rounder, largely unknown beyond the counties – is on person to talk to right now. “I would never have expected the statistics to be what they are,” he says. “But I felt like it took a long time for my bowling to get to that point.”
It starts with multiple continental moves. Born in the United States to English parents, Steele spent his early years in Hampshire and Somerset before a family trip to Australia for the 2006-07 Ashes prompted him to switch to Perth: “Mum and Dad just decided they liked it and wanted to move. ” The love of batting was already there before bowling took off in his teenage years and took him through the Western Australian age group sides. “I was kind of touted as the next big thing when it comes to leggings,” he says. He then returned to England, representing Middlesex’s second XI while studying and playing first-class cricket at Durham University. But the move also caused his leg to disintegrate.
While networking at the university, Steele loses control. “I was injured at the end of the season, I just went up to the nets and thought, ‘I don’t know where this ball is going to go.’ And lo and behold, it was a double whammy. It was kind of the first moment and then it gradually got worse. Battling the yips, he went into overdrive looking for a solution. “I actually got to the point where I was training so much that I had to have shoulder surgery from the last three years of just bowling non-stop in the nets. Basically in 2016 I was like, “I’m done, I’m never going to bowl again.”
That was the same year he was released by Middlesex, but Durham, against whom he had played as a schoolboy, took him on as a top-class shot. In his debut season in 2017, he became the county’s youngest double centurion, hitting 224 against Leicestershire, his bowling kept alive under Paul Collingwood’s captaincy. “He called me the golden arm and always backed me to take a wicket. That was huge for me to get back into bowling at this stage and enjoy it again. I have a lot to thank him for.” Steele’s identity remains a player who played a bit of comfortable spin, and his aspirations to be an all-rounder are limited to white-ball cricket: “I didn’t see myself so much as a red-ball bowler.”
New management came to Durham, the streak fell away and playing time had to be found elsewhere after fruitless seasons in 2019 and 2020. “They said ‘You’re not going to play or start next season.’ And I said, “Well, how about my bowling?” They were like ‘We don’t see you bowling in professional cricket’. Steele disagreed. “I knew my bowling was good. I worked hard during Covid. And I saw myself very differently from the way other people saw me. When it comes to cricket, I’m actually quite timid. So for me, looking back, it was pretty bullish.”
A loan move to Hampshire in 2021 was followed by a permanent move to Surrey later that summer and Steele has been a fine member of the squad ever since. He can slide into the midfield when Will Jacks is either injured or out of action in the Indian Premier League; he is around to play the One Day Cup while others are enjoying the Hundred; he is the consummate professional who has won the county team player of the year award for two consecutive years.
However, the first few weeks of this year brought him into the limelight. A first-class five against Lancashire in which he picked up the tail was followed by a nine-wicket haul against Somerset, both matches contested with a familiar ball. “Obviously I’ve grown up a bit in Australia, I’ve bowled a lot of Kookaburra cricket so I’m pretty comfortable using it,” Steele says. “Maybe I was a little anxious going into the Dukes first game to see if the dream would continue.” It did. A flat Canterbury pitch demanded an over from Steele and he promptly responded with six wickets in the match against Kent.
After that interview, an oval seam is expected, and Steele is required for just four overs, including a solitary wicket, against Hampshire in comfortable win for Surrey. But he remains the competition’s leading wicket-taker after four rounds, something that clicks together for a man who had previously never taken 10 in a Championship season. The leg breaks aren’t flashy Shane Warne-esque side-spins, but there is energy on his way to the crease, a hint of mid-air misdirection and, most importantly, a confidence needed for anyone trying to make the most of the hard skill in the game. “I think I have one of the best wrong people,” he enters into conversation, as if he’s been bitten by a spider and suddenly awakened to his powers.
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Steele has never been selected to play for his country – “I was available at certain times and they didn’t pick me” – and the ambition, he says, is to represent England. “My aim is to play at the highest level possible: Test cricket, ODI cricket, all of it. T20s. everything.” This story of reinvention, already quite extraordinary, demands more.
