Frank Foster
Encyclopedia
Frank Rowbotham Foster (born January 31, 1889, Birmingham
, England
; died May 3, 1958, Northampton
, England
) was a Warwickshire and England all-rounder
whose career was cut short by an accident during World War I
. Nonetheless, his achievements during the early 1910s are suffient to rank him as one of cricket's finest all-round players.
Foster was educated at Solihull School
, in the West Midlands.
He was a fast-medium left-handed bowler who could develop a great deal of spin, which meant the ball could, in the words of a later Wisden
, "double its speed upon hitting the ground". He bowled from very wide of the bowling crease, but was very straight because of the swing inwards his easy body action generated, whilst his height (he was about 6 foot 1 or 186 centimetres - tall for that time) allowed him to gain a lot of bounce of the fast wickets of the day. As a batsman, he was very aggressive and a fast scorer with a good range of strokes - most of his major innings were played at over a run a minute - but on difficult wickets his technique certainly had major flaws which he never was able to truly correct, and which cost him dearly at times.
Of Lincolnshire
descent, and no relation to the famous Worcestershire Foster family
, Frank Foster first played for Warwickshire in 1908. In five matches, he took 23 wickets cheaply, but it was thought he was trying to bowl too fast and was overdoing himself. The following year, he became a regular member of the team but was only modestly successful - though for the first time he showed traces of ability as a hard-hitting batsman.
It was in 1910 that he first became a cricketer of high class, taking 91 wickets for Warwickshire at a cost of 22 each and in all matches taking over 100 wickets for the first time despite a wet summer rarely suiting his bowling. For the Gentlemen against the Players, he took 4 for 34 in the second innings at The Oval
and repeated those figures exactly the following week at Lord's. This, however, was not a brilliant performance give that the central part of the Lord's square that year was so worn the ball consistently kept low. However, on good wickets Foster was regarded so highly he played for the Rest of England against Kent (who had dominated the season more completely than any side since Yorkshire in 1901), but he never found his length.
For reasons of business, it was doubted that Foster would play any cricket in 1911 after he had initially accepted the Warwickshire captaincy. Yet, the season became an incredible array of feats for Foster right from the moment he first stepped onto the field. Twice, his use of "change bowlers" captured vital wickets for Warwickshire in early matches, and he did the match double (with 9 for 118 in the first innings and his maiden century) in a loss to Yorkshire in early June. Whilst he had improved Warwickshire's fortunes in the unusually hot and dry weather of May, a brief wet spell in June put them back to mid-table by the end of that month.
Remarkably, when the sizzling, dry weather returned, Warwickshire, with Foster and Frank Field
making unrivalled use of extremely fast wickets, won match after match - only stopped by a few draws due to heavy scoring - to claim the Championship. In this period, Foster scored 200 against Surrey and 105 in an hour against Yorkshire, and achieved such bowling feats as 11 for 73 at Northampton in the final match. For the whole season, Foster headed both batting and bowling averages for his county, and it was no surprise when he went to Australia for the 1911/1912 Ashes tour.
On this tour, Foster used the rock-hard wickets of Australia like few other English bowlers, and his performance in taking 32 wickets in five Tests
for 21.62 runs each has seldom been surpassed. He batted consistently without making any big scores, though he hit two hundreds in minor matches.
That Warwickshire's Championship win in 1911 was not a reflection of their ability but of the abnormal weather was doubted by nobody at the time, and 1912 - a summer as abnormally wet as 1911 was dry - saw his county fall back to mid-table after winning their first four games. Faults in his batting technique were clearly revealed on slow and treacherous pitches: his average fell from 44 to 19, but Foster again did very well in bowling - taking 5 for 16 in one Test against South Africa
, 11 for 87 against Middlesex and 12 wickets against Leicestershire.
Yet again, there was talk that claims of business would prevent Foster playing again during 1912, and in 1913 he was, for the only time in his career, a disappointment, even though he hit a brilliant century against Hampshire. However, in 1914 he was back to his superb form of 1911 with the ball, and hit an amazing innings of 305 against Worcestershire to give him a batting average of 34. In the last match, against Surrey, the County Champions, Foster made 81 in the unfamiliar role of opener on a difficult pitch, and took nine for 72 (of which eight were clean bowled).
An accident in 1915 made sure Foster would never be able to resume playing cricket when the war ended in 1919. However, his memoirs were published in 1930 and he continued to watch the game until his death.
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
; died May 3, 1958, Northampton
Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) was a Warwickshire and England all-rounder
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
whose career was cut short by an accident during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Nonetheless, his achievements during the early 1910s are suffient to rank him as one of cricket's finest all-round players.
Foster was educated at Solihull School
Solihull School
Solihull School is a British Independent school situated near the centre of Solihull, West Midlands, England.2010 saw Solihull School celebrate its 450th anniversary since its foundation in 1560....
, in the West Midlands.
He was a fast-medium left-handed bowler who could develop a great deal of spin, which meant the ball could, in the words of a later Wisden
Wisden
The Wisden Group was a group of companies formed by John Wisden & Co Ltd, publishers of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. As well as John Wisden & Co, the group included the The Wisden Cricketer magazine, Cricinfo – the world's highest traffic cricket website – and the Hawk-Eye computerised...
, "double its speed upon hitting the ground". He bowled from very wide of the bowling crease, but was very straight because of the swing inwards his easy body action generated, whilst his height (he was about 6 foot 1 or 186 centimetres - tall for that time) allowed him to gain a lot of bounce of the fast wickets of the day. As a batsman, he was very aggressive and a fast scorer with a good range of strokes - most of his major innings were played at over a run a minute - but on difficult wickets his technique certainly had major flaws which he never was able to truly correct, and which cost him dearly at times.
Of Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
descent, and no relation to the famous Worcestershire Foster family
Fostershire
"Fostershire" was a name jocularly applied to Worcestershire County Cricket Club in the early part of the 20th century, shortly after the county had achieved first-class status and admission into the English County Championship...
, Frank Foster first played for Warwickshire in 1908. In five matches, he took 23 wickets cheaply, but it was thought he was trying to bowl too fast and was overdoing himself. The following year, he became a regular member of the team but was only modestly successful - though for the first time he showed traces of ability as a hard-hitting batsman.
It was in 1910 that he first became a cricketer of high class, taking 91 wickets for Warwickshire at a cost of 22 each and in all matches taking over 100 wickets for the first time despite a wet summer rarely suiting his bowling. For the Gentlemen against the Players, he took 4 for 34 in the second innings at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
and repeated those figures exactly the following week at Lord's. This, however, was not a brilliant performance give that the central part of the Lord's square that year was so worn the ball consistently kept low. However, on good wickets Foster was regarded so highly he played for the Rest of England against Kent (who had dominated the season more completely than any side since Yorkshire in 1901), but he never found his length.
For reasons of business, it was doubted that Foster would play any cricket in 1911 after he had initially accepted the Warwickshire captaincy. Yet, the season became an incredible array of feats for Foster right from the moment he first stepped onto the field. Twice, his use of "change bowlers" captured vital wickets for Warwickshire in early matches, and he did the match double (with 9 for 118 in the first innings and his maiden century) in a loss to Yorkshire in early June. Whilst he had improved Warwickshire's fortunes in the unusually hot and dry weather of May, a brief wet spell in June put them back to mid-table by the end of that month.
Remarkably, when the sizzling, dry weather returned, Warwickshire, with Foster and Frank Field
Frank Field (cricketer)
Frank Field was a Warwickshire fast bowler who is best remembered for sharing with Frank Foster the bowling honours in Warwickshire's flukish County Championship triumph in the abnormally dry summer of 1911 - the only time...
making unrivalled use of extremely fast wickets, won match after match - only stopped by a few draws due to heavy scoring - to claim the Championship. In this period, Foster scored 200 against Surrey and 105 in an hour against Yorkshire, and achieved such bowling feats as 11 for 73 at Northampton in the final match. For the whole season, Foster headed both batting and bowling averages for his county, and it was no surprise when he went to Australia for the 1911/1912 Ashes tour.
On this tour, Foster used the rock-hard wickets of Australia like few other English bowlers, and his performance in taking 32 wickets in five Tests
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
for 21.62 runs each has seldom been surpassed. He batted consistently without making any big scores, though he hit two hundreds in minor matches.
That Warwickshire's Championship win in 1911 was not a reflection of their ability but of the abnormal weather was doubted by nobody at the time, and 1912 - a summer as abnormally wet as 1911 was dry - saw his county fall back to mid-table after winning their first four games. Faults in his batting technique were clearly revealed on slow and treacherous pitches: his average fell from 44 to 19, but Foster again did very well in bowling - taking 5 for 16 in one Test against South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, 11 for 87 against Middlesex and 12 wickets against Leicestershire.
Yet again, there was talk that claims of business would prevent Foster playing again during 1912, and in 1913 he was, for the only time in his career, a disappointment, even though he hit a brilliant century against Hampshire. However, in 1914 he was back to his superb form of 1911 with the ball, and hit an amazing innings of 305 against Worcestershire to give him a batting average of 34. In the last match, against Surrey, the County Champions, Foster made 81 in the unfamiliar role of opener on a difficult pitch, and took nine for 72 (of which eight were clean bowled).
An accident in 1915 made sure Foster would never be able to resume playing cricket when the war ended in 1919. However, his memoirs were published in 1930 and he continued to watch the game until his death.