Geoffrey Norman Foster (16 October 1884 – 11 August 1971) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Worcestershire and Kent County Cricket Clubs, as well as appearing a number of times for Oxford University and MCC. He was one of the seven Foster brothers, all of whom played first-class cricket for Worcestershire, and he led the county on a few occasions in the absence of the regular captain. He was a fast scorer, once making 101 in an hour for Oxford against Gentlemen of England.[1]
Foster was born at Malvern in Worcestershire in 1884, the fifth son of the Reverend Henry Foster and his wife Sophia.[2] He, like all his brothers, was educated at Malvern College, where he was in the cricket eleven from 1902 and 1904.[3] He made his first-class debut for Worcestershire against Leicestershire at New Road in August 1903, but made a duck in his only innings. He played a handful more matches in that and the following season, but his only achievement of note was an innings of 81 against Somerset in August 1905.
Cricketedit
He went up to Worcester College, Oxford, in 1904 and was awarded a cricket Blue every year between 1905 and 1908. In 1905 he took the first of his few wickets, that of Gentlemen of England's Maynard Ashcroft. A fine all-round sportsman, Foster was also a Blue at golf and racquets, as well as captaining the university's association football team in 1908.[3] Cricket was, however, his forté, and combining his appearances for Oxford with those for his county, he scored particularly heavily in 1907, when he hit 1,182 first-class runs, his best season's aggregate, at an average of over 40. He also passed a thousand runs in 1908.
In 1909–10 Foster went to India, playing twice for Europeans in the Bombay Presidency Match and Triangular, though his contribution was negligible: he totalled just three runs, held one catch and did not bowl. In 1910 he made his thousand runs for the third and last time when he played 19 first-class games and took 25 catches, both figures being his most in a single season. He appeared 17 times in 1911, but thereafter his business commitments limited his appearances to a handful each season.[3] However, he did make a career-best 175 against Leicestershire in 1913, only to see Worcestershire fall to an eight-run defeat, despite Worcestershire having enforced the follow-on.[4] His stand of 195 with John Cuffe in that match was at the time a county record for the sixth wicket.[3] In 1912 he played (for the only time in his career) as wicket-keeper against the Australians at New Road, stumping the opposing keeper, Harold Webster.
The First World War intervened after the 1914 season, and Foster did not play again until 1920, when he appeared once each for Free Foresters and MCC, hitting 143 in his match for the latter side against Oxford University. In 1921 he played eight times for Kent, for whom he turned out twice more the following season. After that his first-class appearances were sporadic: he played for Harlequins in one of their few first-class matches, against the South Africans in 1924, and later that decade played four games for Free Foresters against Oxford University. Finally, he played a few games for MCC in 1931, the last being against – once again – Oxford.
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For the West Indian cricketer see Geoffrey Foster West Indian cricketer Geoffrey Norman Foster 16 October 1884 11 August 1971 was an English first class cricketer who played for Worcestershire and Kent County Cricket Clubs as well as appearing a number of times for Oxford University and MCC He was one of the seven Foster brothers all of whom played first class cricket for Worcestershire and he led the county on a few occasions in the absence of the regular captain He was a fast scorer once making 101 in an hour for Oxford against Gentlemen of England 1 Geoffrey FosterFoster in about 1910Personal informationBorn 1884 10 16 16 October 1884Malvern Worcestershire EnglandDied11 August 1971 1971 08 11 aged 86 Westminster London EnglandBattingRight handedDomestic team informationYearsTeam1903 1914Worcestershire1905 1908Oxford University1921 1922KentCareer statisticsCompetition First classMatches 141Runs scored 6 600Batting average 28 32100s 50s 11 26Top score 175Balls bowled 388Wickets 8Bowling average 35 505 wickets in innings 010 wickets in match 0Best bowling 2 21Catches stumpings 160 1Source ESPNcricinfo 23 September 2018 Contents 1 Early life 2 Cricket 3 Later life 4 References 5 External linksEarly life editFoster was born at Malvern in Worcestershire in 1884 the fifth son of the Reverend Henry Foster and his wife Sophia 2 He like all his brothers was educated at Malvern College where he was in the cricket eleven from 1902 and 1904 3 He made his first class debut for Worcestershire against Leicestershire at New Road in August 1903 but made a duck in his only innings He played a handful more matches in that and the following season but his only achievement of note was an innings of 81 against Somerset in August 1905 Cricket editHe went up to Worcester College Oxford in 1904 and was awarded a cricket Blue every year between 1905 and 1908 In 1905 he took the first of his few wickets that of Gentlemen of England s Maynard Ashcroft A fine all round sportsman Foster was also a Blue at golf and racquets as well as captaining the university s association football team in 1908 3 Cricket was however his forte and combining his appearances for Oxford with those for his county he scored particularly heavily in 1907 when he hit 1 182 first class runs his best season s aggregate at an average of over 40 He also passed a thousand runs in 1908 In 1909 10 Foster went to India playing twice for Europeans in the Bombay Presidency Match and Triangular though his contribution was negligible he totalled just three runs held one catch and did not bowl In 1910 he made his thousand runs for the third and last time when he played 19 first class games and took 25 catches both figures being his most in a single season He appeared 17 times in 1911 but thereafter his business commitments limited his appearances to a handful each season 3 However he did make a career best 175 against Leicestershire in 1913 only to see Worcestershire fall to an eight run defeat despite Worcestershire having enforced the follow on 4 His stand of 195 with John Cuffe in that match was at the time a county record for the sixth wicket 3 In 1912 he played for the only time in his career as wicket keeper against the Australians at New Road stumping the opposing keeper Harold Webster The First World War intervened after the 1914 season and Foster did not play again until 1920 when he appeared once each for Free Foresters and MCC hitting 143 in his match for the latter side against Oxford University In 1921 he played eight times for Kent for whom he turned out twice more the following season After that his first class appearances were sporadic he played for Harlequins in one of their few first class matches against the South Africans in 1924 and later that decade played four games for Free Foresters against Oxford University Finally he played a few games for MCC in 1931 the last being against once again Oxford Later life editHe was the Public Schools and Independent Schools F A representative on the Council of the Football Association from 1920 to 1924 5 Foster died in Westminster London at the age of 86 References edit Gentlemen of England v Oxford University in 1908 CricketArchive Retrieved 2 May 2007 Carlaw D 2020 Kent County Cricketers A to Z Part Two 1919 1939 pp 79 80 Available online at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians Retrieved 2020 07 01 a b c d Foster Geoffrey N Obituaries in 1971 Wisden Cricketers Almanack 1972 Retrieved 30 December 2021 Defeat After Opponents Following On CricketArchive Retrieved 3 May 2009 5 The Public Schools FA AND ISFA Archived 20 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine ISFA Retrieved 16 July 2010 External links editGeoffrey Foster at ESPNcricinfo Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Geoffrey Foster amp oldid 1190853812, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
