Lives in Cricket No 18 - FR Foster

Saltburn visitors, who included Basil Foster of the Worcestershire brotherhood. ‘Basil made a stupendous score but what I couldn’t understand was every time he hit a six or boundary he sat down and rested under the umpire’s coat. I could not understand what his game was until someone told me he suffered with his heart. That, I think, explains why Basil never attained the success gained by his brothers.’ This particular Foster reappears later in Frank’s story. Aged ten, Frank became a boarder at Solihull Grammar School, 22 where he showed such cricketing ability that in 1902 he was appointed captain of the school team, and remained so until he left, aged fifteen, in 1904. He once remarked that he owed all his cricket to Solihull, and it would certainly have helped that whilst there he was coached by Frank Shacklock and Light, the school professionals and by the ex-Warwicks player Charles Cort. 23 He was also a member of the school Cadet Corps. Whether he appreciated the discipline instilled here is not known, but he certainly disliked the Latin and Greek which all pupils had to study. Early Years 22 Foster’s parents, William and Elizabeth, two strong personalities. William was managing director of the Foster Brothers’ menswear business until his death in 1914; Elizabeth chaired the company from 1918 to 1943. 22 Founded in 1560, it became an independent day school, as Solihull School, in 1946 and in 1948 joined the Headmasters’ Conference. Remarkable for its diversity, former pupils include poets Richard Jago and William Shenstone; diplomat Sir Oliver Wright; banker Sir Derek Higgs; former FA chairman Sir Bert Millichip; ex-Tory M.P. Andrew Mackay; late Communist Party of Great Britain organiser Dave Cook; Olympic skater John Curry; champion boxer Wally Swift, jun; 1992 television ‘Mastermind’ Steve Williams; classical musicians James Barralet and Laurence Cummings; and, sticking to the music theme, Genesis P. Orridge of Throbbing Gristle. Latest addition to the Warwicks cricketers’ list begun with Frank Foster is Richard Johnson. 23 Frank Shacklock was a fast bowler with Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire before emigrating to New Zealand. Light is likely to have been Elisha Light, a Hampshire professional until 1900; he later played for Carmarthenshire. Charles Cort was a pace bowler who appeared for Warwicks in 1887 and 1888.