Lives in Cricket No 18 - FR Foster

On tour generally Foster made himself popular. He was friendly with hotel and bar staff, who probably appreciated the way he liked sampling local brews while his dress-sense was also noticed. Turning up for a match in plus-fours prompted a London fashion guru to comment: ‘See Foster’s trousers and die.’ A New South Wales ‘poet’ signing himself Augustus Bails wrote: The flannel pants of Foster cost A guinea clear per pair. Hearne’s work out rather less. Hobbs lost A tenner once – a rare Experience With him, his sense Of caution being strong. And, apropos It riled him so He cursed both loud and long. David Rayvern Allen could not find a place for that one in his book of cricket poems 92 years on: a wise decision. Despite Foster’s general popularity Cricket does detect a whinge emanating from Australia, describing him as a ‘damn intentional smasher of batsmen’s fingers and batterer of batsmen’s thighs.’ Cricket replies though: Everyone who knows the Warwickshire captain – as genial and manly and true a sportsman as ever trod green turf – will be indignant at the cowardly and libellous imputation. And they said Frank Foster was such a favourite in Australia! One did not marvel at that. There is a winning charm about this young cricket genius that most of us feel; but one does wonder whether he cares much about losing the esteem of people who cannot accept defeat gracefully, but in the dark hours must fling such charges about. Though to be sure it is not likely that many people in Australia believe them. It has not been possible to discover where that particular whinge appeared; doubtless Foster treated it with appropriate contempt. As for Foster’s humour, he was greatly amused at the circumstances surrounding the team group taken in a Melbourne park – it appears in this book on page 65 – before the Second Test. The original line-up had George Gunn seated on the extreme left next to Rhodes, with Strudwick immediately behind him. Hearne and Hitch were sat on the ground just in front of Douglas and Foster. It was then found that the ground under Gunn’s chair was very rough so he took it and sat next to Hobbs on the extreme right. This would have upset the balance of the picture so Strudwick was asked to move to behind Gunn’s new position, next to Vine. Hearne and Hitch stayed on the ground but moved a place to their right. No one seemed to realise that this left Foster in the middle of the seated row, in the place usually reserved for the captain. Little wonder that in among Under the Southern Cross 64