Lives in Cricket No 18 - FR Foster

knew he would now have to return to the day job, but more so for local amateur A.J.Woodward who, as reported earlier, never did play first-class cricket. So Frank went back to to the hosiery trade and to Hall Green CC with a first-class record of 170.5 overs, 44 maidens, 397 runs and 23 wickets at an average 17.26: a few months later Wisden listed him as the top Warwicks bowler and sixteenth in its national averages. He gave little evidence of latent batting talent, but it had been an impressive start. 1909 unfolded with a visit to Surrey at The Oval, and no other suitable amateur being available, the captaincy devolved upon Russell Everitt 29 of Moseley, and a thin looking attack was bolstered by the now 20-year-old Frank Foster. Surrey, for whomHayward and Hobbs produced a first wicket stand of 352, still their best against Warwicks, quite outplayed the visitors to win easily. Foster had ‘none for plenty’ and perhaps learned there was more to county cricket than he had realised, but he did attain his maiden first-class fifty, in about an hour, ensuring the follow-on was narrowly avoided. A visit to Derby was notable only for the fact that the pitch was covered in snow when the players arrived. This and subsequent games had Foster quietly learning his trade, though there were worrying signs that he was physically ‘off colour’ more than a 20-year-old should have been. He did enjoy one great afternoon, however. At Leamington against Hants he enlivened the last overs of a draw with 51 not out in 30 minutes, the quickest-ever half-century for the county to date, and including two sixes and seven fours. (Foster himself beat the record, twice, in 1914.) He and Jim (‘Tiger’) Smith added 61 for the last wicket – the Tiger’s share being six. It was the county’s best last-wicket stand in a home game at the time. Two days later came the match of the season – the Australian tourists. The county was quite overmatched, only rain saving them from a heavy defeat. Foster was bowled for low scores and sent down 37 overs for 104 runs and one wicket. But what a wicket! He bowled the great Victor Trumper for a single. A couple of weeks later, against Leicestershire, Foster enjoyed an even more memorable feat – with the bat. The match had started none too enjoyably for Foster, Warwicks and the home spectators. Albert Knight got his head down and stuck around for six and a half hours. He made 137, with only six fours and, remarkably 62 singles, and in one 45-minute spell obtained a mere single. Knight, deeply religious, reputedly said a prayer before his first ball and one imagines both opposition and spectators prayed for divine intervention long before their final deliverance. Foster came through his travails reasonably well, 28 overs bringing 73 runs and two wickets. First victim was John King, another renowned more for perspiration than inspiration. He and Knight had already ground out 45 together, ‘sedately’ according to Unite Jones in the local press. A long stand Young cricketer making his way 26 29 R.S.Everitt, scion of a well known Black Country family, had played once for Worcestershire in 1901, and this was his sole Warwicks appearance. Surviving until 1973 he had time enough to cogitate upon his first-class career.