13 Facts about Neil Foster: The fearless England pacer

Behind the injuries to different parts of his lanky body, Neil Foster was a bowler par excellence. Of course, he wasn’t from the Andy Roberts and Michael Holding tradition, but he wore the three lions for a reason. He was wily and his ability to introduce subtle variations made him an invaluable asset to the England skipper’s he played under namely David Gower and Mike Gatting. Although injuries hampered his career, Neil Foster’s 54^th birthday is a special one. Here are some interesting facts about him on his birthday.

1. Birth:

Neil Foster was born in Colchester, Essex in England on the 6^th of May 1962.

2. Nickname:

Neil Foster is fondly known as ‘Fozzie’ by his friends and family.

3. Fozzie the fast:

Fozzie wasn’t your archetypical bowler from the 1980’s. However, with his variations in pace and ability to extract swing, Foster managed to be marginally successful in his career. Fozzie had a beautiful, upright action, which generated prolific outswing and seam movement both ways

4. The eye of the tiger:

One of Foster’s biggest assets to his fame was the fact that he was fearless. His ability to dismiss priceless players such as Viv Richards and Javed Miandad was simply a talent he and only he possessed. He has dismissed them for a duck, the only bowler to do so.

5. Branded a Rebel:

Neil Foster joined England’s rebel tour to South Africa in 1989 under the captaincy of Mike Gatting. He was subsequently banned for three years by the ECB.

6. The 1993 Ashes:

Foster received his comeback call for the 1993 Ashes series where he replaced Philip DeFreitas. It was his first Test for four years. He became the fourth South African rebel to be rehabilitated, after Gatting, John Emburey, and Paul Jarvis, and his selection was designed to bring more aggression to the English attack.

7. Rob Smyth’s pick:

Renowned cricket writer Rob Smyth once wrote: “Fozzie had a beautiful, upright action, which generated prolific outswing and seam movement both ways. And he had the priceless ability to dismiss good batsmen: he is the only man to snare Javed Miandad and Viv Richards for 0 in a Test.”

8. The metal detector:

A journalist once wrote: “Back and knee injuries plagued the career of Essex seam bowler Neil Foster so much that the plates in his body once apparently set off an airport metal detector. In all, he had as many as nine knee operations, and the problems jinxed a fine career. He has since gone on to work on Sports celebrities such as Allan Clarke, who shot to fame by starring on hit TV show I’m an RPO get me out of here!”

9. On the road to Ipswich:

Fozzie also has had a tryst with football. He has played at center back and was on trial at Ipswich town in his early career.

10. A very Tony Greig story:

Standing at almost 6 and a half feet from the ground, Foster has often been compared to former England skipper Tony Greig.

11. Black Magic:

In an interview, Foster stated: “My first exposure to top cricket was when my dad took me to Lord’s to watch West Indies, the likes of Kanhai and Sobers. I was in awe of them.”

12. Chocolate cake in Madras:

Neil Foster’s greatest career moment came against India in the sweltering and stifling heat of Madras in 1984. He took six wickets in the first innings and 5 in the second as the Brits won the Test by nine wickets.

13. Grooming them young:

Since his retirement all those years ago, Foster has been a bowling coach, serving both his county Essex and his country England.