An irrepressible enthusiast, Capel was a batsman who bowled but, because of his dual role, found himself pushed down the
order. and helping them to win the
NatWest Trophy in 1992. He retired from first-class cricket in 1998. He made his international
Test match debut against
Pakistan in 1987 at
Headingley, becoming the first Northamptonshire-born cricketer in 77 years to represent England in test cricket after
George Thompson. He walked to the crease when England were at 31 for 5 and scored a fifty against
Imran Khan and
Wasim Akram. He registered his career best of 98 in punishing conditions in
Karachi against
Pakistan in 1987–88, in his fourth Test match in his career. However, he followed it up with a string of poor scores and was discarded with a
batting average below 20 and a
bowling average close to 50 in both forms of the international game. He dismissed
Viv Richards three times in his career, as well as forming part of the pace quartet which won in
Jamaica in 1989–90. This was England's first Test victory over the
West Indies for sixteen years, although it would be the only time in his Test career when he finished on the winning side. He ended up playing fifteen Tests and twenty-three
One Day Internationals (ODIs) for England. He was part of the 1992-3 England "A" tour to Australia. == Later career ==