Cricket is a game being loved by people of all the age groups. Not only kids, but youngsters and even grown ups enjoy watching and playing the gentleman’s game. Meanwhile, a former Scottish player Alex Steele (83 years) gained a lot of praise on the social media after he was captured doing wicket-keeping while having an oxygen cylinder on his back during a local club match. To note, in 2020, Alex was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a terminal respiratory disease, and told that he might only have a year to live.
Steele made his first-class debut against Lancashire in 1967
A club cricketer for Forfarshire Cricket Club, Steele made his debut for Scotland in first-class cricket against Lancashire at Old Trafford on Scotland’s tour of England in 1967. He was a regular member of the Scottish side in first-class cricket in the late 1960s, making eight appearances to 1969.
Steele scored 621 runs in his fourteen first-class appearances at an average of 24.84. He scored two half centuries, all against Ireland, with a highest score of 97 in 1968. As a wicket-keeper, he took 11 catches and made two stumpings.
Speaking more about Steele ailment, the disease causes the lungs to become progressively stiffer and smaller, as scar tissue impairs how well the alveoli (air sacs) transfer oxygen breathed into the blood, resulting in low oxygen levels in the body. As the amount of scar tissue increases, the lungs become less effective, resulting in increasing breathlessness, with most patients eventually dying from respiratory failure.
“Not once” has he given a thought about his illness, he says. “One of the most important things is your own attitude to the illness,” he believes. “I know of people who when something ill happens to them, give up the ghost and feel sorry for themselves. I haven’t felt that myself,” said Steele.
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