Fostershire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"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 (in 1899). The name came from the fact that no fewer than seven brothers from this one family played for Worcestershire during this period, three of whom captained the club at some point.
[edit] The Foster brothers
The following table gives the Foster brothers' career dates and statistics for Worcestershire only, but in all first-class matches, not just those in the County Championship. The Foster brothers were all educated at Malvern College.
| Name | Lifespan | Worcestershire career | Other f-c teams | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Span | Matches | Runs | Wickets | ||||
| Basil Foster | 1882-1959 | 1902-1911 | 7 | 94 | 0 | Middlesex MCC |
|
| Geoffrey Foster | 1884-1971 | 1903-1914 | 81 | 4,114 | 2 | Kent Oxford University MCC Europeans |
|
| Henry Foster | 1873-1950 | 1899-1925 | 246 | 15,053 | 11 | Oxford University MCC |
Worcs captain 1899-1900, 1902-1910, 1913 Wisden 1911 |
| Maurice Foster | 1889-1940 | 1908-1934 | 157 | 7,876 | 3 | MCC | Worcs captain 1923-1925 |
| Neville Foster | 1890-1978 | 1914-1923 | 8 | 219 | - | - | appeared only in those two seasons |
| "Tip" Foster | 1878-1914 | 1899-1912 | 80 | 5,699 | 21 | England (8 Tests) Oxford University MCC |
Worcs captain 1901 Wisden 1901 |
| Wilfrid Foster | 1874-1958 | 1899-1911 | 29 | 1,600 | 0 | MCC | |
[edit] Other relations
As well as the seven brothers listed in the above table, several other members of the Foster family played first-class cricket:
- Christopher Foster (Worcestershire 1927), son of Henry;
- Peter Foster (Oxford University and Kent 1936-1946), son of Geoffrey;
- William Greenstock (Cambridge University and Worcestershire 1886-1919); brother-in-law of the seven brothers;
- John Greenstock (Oxford University and Worcestershire 1924-1927), son of William Greenstock and nephew of the seven brothers.
