Lives in Cricket No 18 - FR Foster

the £150 cheque on Friday. If my account is overdrawn, I will pay you in some way. Yours very truly Frank R.Foster This is the last letter to be mentioned in this book. Further comment would be superfluous. On 18 August, at Southend Magistrates’ Court, Foster appeared on thirteen charges of larceny and intent to defraud. It was alleged he stole a car and defrauded taxi drivers by giving worthless cheques for fares, mostly for trips from London to Leigh-on-Sea. Through his solicitor, Mr J.C.Lamb, Foster pleaded ‘Not Guilty’ and was remanded for trial at the next Southend Quarter Sessions. Detective Inspector Todd opposed bail. He stated Foster should have appeared a few days earlier. Foster’s explanation for his non-appearance was that he had had to go to London to tell the MCC about a twenty-year-old left-arm fast bowler called Ron Bumstead. Foster said there would be ‘a Hell of a row’ if Bumstead were not chosen for the 1950/51 MCC Ashes tour to Australia. With Bumstead in the side Foster reckoned England would win the series 5-0, a result he had forecast for the 1946/47 series, with similar inaccuracy. England lost 4-1 in 1950/51 and whether Bumstead would have affected the result is doubtful. One has to comment that despite efforts from several sources it has been impossible to trace any cricketer of that name. Foster claimed to have been in touch with MCC by post with regard to Bumstead but Lord’s has no file on the matter. Foster’s bail application was refused. 75 Later that day the same magistrates heard another case, again involving Foster, that he assaulted John Beale, a County Court bailiff, in the execution of his duty. Beale was trying to execute a warrant on Foster’s goods and chattels at his home, 8 Nelson Road, Leigh-on-Sea. Beale alleged Foster threw a cigarette in his face, raised a cane as if to hit him, and finally punched Beale in the face. Foster said he had no intention of hitting the bailiff but when he refused to leave the house he had struck him. The court fined Foster £5, with three guineas costs. Prosecuting counsel requested that if Foster could not immediately pay he should be sent to prison, at which Mr Lamb, Foster’s solicitor, jumped forward and paid it for him. For this act of charity Foster said, ‘Thank you, sir’. The Southend Standard reported that during the court hearings Foster was shown a picture of a young man in cricket kit and defending solicitor asked him to identify the man shown. He replied: ‘That’s me. I played for England in 1912 and for Warwickshire in ’11, ‘12, ’13 and ’14.’ Asked about the tie he was wearing, he replied that it was an England tie and only men who had played cricket for England were allowed to wear it. He said he had captained England against Tasmania in 1932 [ sic ]. The cloudy days of autumn and of winter 112 75 There is no trace of a cricketer named Bumstead playing successfully, or at all, in Essex or Southend newspapers at around this time.