Tip Foster
Encyclopedia
Reginald Erskine Foster, nicknamed Tip Foster, commonly designated R. E. Foster in sporting literature (born 16 April 1878 in Malvern, Worcestershire
, died 13 May 1914 in London
) was an English cricketer
and football
player. He is the only man to have captained England at both sports.
One of seven Foster brothers
who were all educated at Malvern College
and who all played cricket for Malvern and for Worcestershire
, Foster was a right-handed middle-order batsman. In 1903 he scored 287 on Test debut, setting a world record for the highest Test score.
and University College, Oxford
. He first played for Oxford University Cricket Club
in 1897; in addition to cricket, he also represented Oxford at football, racquets and golf. However, although he did fairly well, it was not until 1899 that his beautiful and immaculate driving to the off-side made him into one of the finest batsmen of his time. He had played for Worcestershire while they were still a minor county but in 1899, their inaugural season as a first-class county
, he and his brother Wilfrid Foster
both scored two hundreds in a match (against Hampshire
), a feat which remains unique in county cricket. In 1900, as captain of Oxford, he scored 171 to set the record for the highest individual score in the Varsity Match
, and he scored 102 not out and 136 for the Gentlemen against the Players
at Lord's, the first man to score two centuries in a match in the Gentleman v Players series. In total, Foster scored 930 runs at an average of 77.5 for Oxford in the 1900 season, a record in University cricket.
For these performances, Foster was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1901 and the following year a superb run of form for Worcestershire resulted in him scoring 1,957 runs, at an average of 54.36. However, business prevented him representing the MCC
in Australia the following year and England undoubtedly missed his brilliant batting. Moreover, apart from one match against Warwickshire
, he could devote no time to first-class cricket in May and June 1902, ruling him out of contention for an England place against Australia.
In 1903, his appearances were restricted to three matches in June and August, but England were desperate for a captain for that winter's Ashes tour
. Foster was (oddly) able to arrange to be away from England. Although one might have feared that he would be out of practice, in the first Test
at Sydney in 1903, Foster scored 287. This was the highest score in Test cricket until 1930 (surpassed by Andy Sandham
), and remains the highest score by a debutant, the highest by a non-Australian batsman in Australia, and the second highest by a batsman of any nationality against Australia, home or away (surpassed only by Len Hutton
's 364 in 1938). Foster did not follow it up, until the final Test on a vicious wicket at Melbourne
, where he top-scored in both innings with 18 (in a total of 61 all out) and, having been promoted to open, an excellent 30 (out of 101 all out).
In the following three seasons Foster could spare no time for cricket, apart from August 1905 (when he scored 246 on his first appearance), but in 1907 he was able to find time to play regularly from the beginning of June. His batting was as good as ever in a summer of appalling wickets and helped Worcestershire (fourteenth of sixteen counties in 1906) to rise to equal second with Yorkshire
. He captained England in the three-match series against South Africa
in 1907, winning one match and drawing two. Offered the captaincy of the MCC for the 1907/1908 Ashes tour, Foster declined because business commitments were monopolising his attention.
After the Third Test of 1907 he could spare time for only two more first-class matches, one in 1910 (when he scored 133 against Yorkshire) and one in 1912. However, in Saturday club cricket, he never lost his brilliance. In one club match in 1909 he scored 261 in just 75 minutes.
, Foster played as a forward for the Corinthians in the early 1900s.
He played five matches for England
between 1900 and 1902, making his debut against Wales
on 26 March 1900. In his second game, against Ireland at the Dell, Southampton, he scored two goals in a 3-0 victory, although only 8,000 saw this, his most distinguished performance. C. B. Fry played at full-back in the same game. Foster was awarded the captaincy against Wales
in his final appearance on 3 March 1902, which ended in a 0-0 draw. During his short England career he scored three goals.
failed to help him recover and he died in May 1914 at the age of only 36.
Malvern, Worcestershire
Malvern is a town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, governed by Malvern Town Council. As of the 2001 census it has a population of 28,749, and includes the historical settlement and commercial centre of Great Malvern on the steep eastern flank of the Malvern Hills, and the former...
, died 13 May 1914 in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
) was an English cricketer
Cricketer
A cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player"....
and football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
player. He is the only man to have captained England at both sports.
One of seven Foster brothers
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...
who were all educated at Malvern College
Malvern College
Malvern College is a coeducational independent school located on a 250 acre campus near the town centre of Malvern, Worcestershire in England. Founded on 25 January 1865, until 1992, the College was a secondary school for boys aged 13 to 18...
and who all played cricket for Malvern and for Worcestershire
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...
, Foster was a right-handed middle-order batsman. In 1903 he scored 287 on Test debut, setting a world record for the highest Test score.
Cricket career
Foster was educated at Malvern CollegeMalvern College
Malvern College is a coeducational independent school located on a 250 acre campus near the town centre of Malvern, Worcestershire in England. Founded on 25 January 1865, until 1992, the College was a secondary school for boys aged 13 to 18...
and University College, Oxford
University College, Oxford
.University College , is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2009 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £110m...
. He first played for Oxford University Cricket Club
Oxford University Cricket Club
Oxford University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team, representing the University of Oxford. It plays its home games at the University Parks in Oxford, England...
in 1897; in addition to cricket, he also represented Oxford at football, racquets and golf. However, although he did fairly well, it was not until 1899 that his beautiful and immaculate driving to the off-side made him into one of the finest batsmen of his time. He had played for Worcestershire while they were still a minor county but in 1899, their inaugural season as a first-class county
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
, he and his brother Wilfrid Foster
Wilfrid Foster
Major Wilfrid Lionel Foster CBE DSO was an English cricketer: a right-handed batsman who played for Worcestershire County Cricket Club in their early years in first-class cricket. He was one of the seven Foster brothers, all of whom played first-class cricket for the county...
both scored two hundreds in a match (against Hampshire
Hampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...
), a feat which remains unique in county cricket. In 1900, as captain of Oxford, he scored 171 to set the record for the highest individual score in the Varsity Match
The University Match (cricket)
The University Match in a cricketing context is generally understood to refer to the annual fixture between Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club...
, and he scored 102 not out and 136 for the Gentlemen against the Players
Gentlemen v Players
The Gentlemen v Players game was a first-class cricket match that was generally played on an annual basis between one team consisting of amateurs and one of professionals . The first two games took place in 1806 but the fixture was not revived until 1819. It was more or less annual thereafter...
at Lord's, the first man to score two centuries in a match in the Gentleman v Players series. In total, Foster scored 930 runs at an average of 77.5 for Oxford in the 1900 season, a record in University cricket.
For these performances, Foster was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1901 and the following year a superb run of form for Worcestershire resulted in him scoring 1,957 runs, at an average of 54.36. However, business prevented him representing the MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
in Australia the following year and England undoubtedly missed his brilliant batting. Moreover, apart from one match against Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...
, he could devote no time to first-class cricket in May and June 1902, ruling him out of contention for an England place against Australia.
In 1903, his appearances were restricted to three matches in June and August, but England were desperate for a captain for that winter's Ashes tour
English cricket team in Australia in 1903–04
The English cricket team's tour to Australia in 1903–04 was the first time the Marylebone Cricket Club took over responsibility for sponsoring and arranging an overseas tour representing England. England had not won the Ashes since the 1896 series in England...
. Foster was (oddly) able to arrange to be away from England. Although one might have feared that he would be out of practice, in the first Test
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...
at Sydney in 1903, Foster scored 287. This was the highest score in Test cricket until 1930 (surpassed by Andy Sandham
Andy Sandham
Andrew Sandham was an English cricketer, a right-handed batsman who played 14 Test matches between 1921 and 1930. He scored over 40,000 first-class runs, but bowled only very rarely; he took just 18 wickets in his career.Sandham made his Surrey debut in 1911, and was capped in 1913...
), and remains the highest score by a debutant, the highest by a non-Australian batsman in Australia, and the second highest by a batsman of any nationality against Australia, home or away (surpassed only by Len Hutton
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...
's 364 in 1938). Foster did not follow it up, until the final Test on a vicious wicket at Melbourne
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
, where he top-scored in both innings with 18 (in a total of 61 all out) and, having been promoted to open, an excellent 30 (out of 101 all out).
In the following three seasons Foster could spare no time for cricket, apart from August 1905 (when he scored 246 on his first appearance), but in 1907 he was able to find time to play regularly from the beginning of June. His batting was as good as ever in a summer of appalling wickets and helped Worcestershire (fourteenth of sixteen counties in 1906) to rise to equal second with Yorkshire
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
. He captained England in the three-match series against South Africa
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
in 1907, winning one match and drawing two. Offered the captaincy of the MCC for the 1907/1908 Ashes tour, Foster declined because business commitments were monopolising his attention.
After the Third Test of 1907 he could spare time for only two more first-class matches, one in 1910 (when he scored 133 against Yorkshire) and one in 1912. However, in Saturday club cricket, he never lost his brilliance. In one club match in 1909 he scored 261 in just 75 minutes.
Football career
In footballFootball (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
, Foster played as a forward for the Corinthians in the early 1900s.
He played five matches for England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
between 1900 and 1902, making his debut against Wales
Wales national football team
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...
on 26 March 1900. In his second game, against Ireland at the Dell, Southampton, he scored two goals in a 3-0 victory, although only 8,000 saw this, his most distinguished performance. C. B. Fry played at full-back in the same game. Foster was awarded the captaincy against Wales
Wales national football team
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...
in his final appearance on 3 March 1902, which ended in a 0-0 draw. During his short England career he scored three goals.
Death
By 1913 it was clear Foster was suffering severely from diabetes. A trip to South AfricaSouth 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...
failed to help him recover and he died in May 1914 at the age of only 36.
External links
- CricketArchive – profile of Reginald Foster
- Reginald Foster — biography on the Oxford University Association Football Club web site
- Cricinfo page on R E Foster
- England football profile
- 7. Great names from the past. ISFA website.