Lives in Cricket No 18 - FR Foster

they and the enthusiastic crowd looked forward to a big score against a toiling attack. Foster took first over, a maiden, but Barnes’ first delivery hit Bardsley on the heel and rebounded onto the stumps. Kelleway, Hill and Armstrong then fell to Barnes in quick succession and the home side were 11 for four – in perfect conditions – all having fallen to Barnes for one run. Hobbs wrote that at this point Hitch remarked to him, ‘Jack, we’ve won the match’ as they crossed between overs, hands in pockets. Foster then bowled Trumper, Barnes dismissed Minnett and at 38 for six, Barnes’ figures were five for 6. Now feeling unwell he took no more wickets, and Australia reached 184. Barnes’ final figures were five for 44, Foster had only one for 52 in 16 overs, but it must be stressed that conditions favoured the batsmen. Most people thought the last wicket had fallen at 144 when Bill Whitty was given out caught behind, but as the players approached the wicket gate it was noticed that Tiger Smith had remained in the middle in conversation with the umpire. Smith insisted he had not dismissed Whitty fairly so everyone returned to the middle and Whitty and Hordern added a further 40 runs. England then scored a disappointing 265 and owed much to J.W.Hearne, whose century was compiled, at age 20 years 324 days, the youngest for England in Australia. Second knock Australia again suffered an early collapse, four down for 38. Armstrong and Ransford then added 97 before the latter was taken by Smith off Foster. Armstrong went on to 90, but was never comfortable against Foster. He once almost swung himself off his feet trying to swish Foster to leg and after edging a four dangerously close to off stump Armstrong hit over Foster’s yorker. The ball nicked Armstrong’s pads on its way to his stumps and Foster appealed for lbw. Seeing the ball hit the stumps Foster apologised to umpire Bob Crockett for an unnecessary appeal and Crockett replied that when on ten Armstrong had edged Foster to Smith but nobody had appealed! Thus Armstrong’s fine innings ought to have been nipped in the bud. Australia finally left England requiring 219 to score for victory. The bowling of Foster (38-9-91-6) and Barnes (32.1-7-96-3) had been paramount in putting England on track but again the support given was mixed. Foster sat out the next picnic match, at Geelong, before the serious business of the Third Test, at Adelaide. Australia again won the toss and batted: on a superb strip Foster came of age as a Test bowler. Australia were skittled for 133 in 197 minutes and Foster, bowling as never before, swinging in the air, sometimes with a late straightening, and varying his pace, with evidence of a subtle slower ball, dismissed Kelleway (breaking a stump), Hordern, Hill, Minnett (whose wicket was also split when being bowled) and Armstrong for 36 runs in 26 overs. He also forced Ransford to retire at 17/2 after striking his thumb with a lifter. With three close leg-side fielders to his usual leg-stump attack he was devastating, as the ball-by-ball analysis shows: ..1..1/....../w...../..1…/....../….11/....../…1../.1…./....../....../24.1../....../..11../ …w.1/1…../.2…./…11w/w..w../4.1… Under the Southern Cross 58