Neil Alan Foster was born on 6 May 1962 and is an English former professional cricketer, who played 29 Test matches and 48 One Day Internationals for England from 1983 to 1993.
23 Facts About Neil Foster
1.
2.
Domestically Foster played for Essex County Cricket Club from 1980 to 1993, earning his county cap in 1983.
3.
Neil Foster was a part of the English squad which finished as runners-up at the 1987 Cricket World Cup.
4.
Neil Foster played for Essex during their most successful period in their history.
5.
Neil Foster took 97 first-class wickets at 21.24 in Essex's successful 1991 season, and in total took 908 first-class wickets.
6.
Neil Foster made his highest first-class score, 107 not out against Sussex, in 1991.
7.
Neil Foster came to England's attention during Essex's County Championship campaign of 1983, featuring in an incident where they dismissed Surrey for only 14.
8.
Neil Foster made his Test debut against New Zealand at Lord's in that year, with Jeremy Coney becoming his first wicket and only wicket of that game.
9.
Neil Foster made his debut alongside other debutants, Nick Cook and Chris Smith, and it was the first time since 1959 that England had fielded three new players in a home Test.
10.
Neil Foster made his mark on Test cricket at a similar time to other fellow Essex players and captain Graham Gooch.
11.
Neil Foster is the only bowler to get both Javed Miandad and Viv Richards out for a duck in a Test.
12.
In 1988, Neil Foster was selected as Wisden Cricketer of the Year alongside Jonathan Agnew, David Hughes, Peter Roebuck and Pakistan international Saleem Malik.
13.
Neil Foster played in an era in which England generally struggled in Test cricket, and England only won three of his 29 Tests: his debut Test, that match in Madras, and a later match in 1988 against Sri Lanka.
14.
Neil Foster played 48 one-day internationals for England, where he was more often on the winning side.
15.
Neil Foster represented them in the 1987 Cricket World Cup, playing in the final which England lost to Australia.
16.
Neil Foster played his last one-day international in the series against Australia at the start of the summer of 1989: England won this series on wickets lost, ahead of embarrassingly imploding in the following Test series, Foster taking 3 for 29 in England's only victory over Australia that summer.
17.
At the time Neil Foster had been one of England's leading bowlers, taking more wickets than any other England bowler in the 1989 Ashes series in spite of only playing three Tests.
18.
Neil Foster got a recall from the selectors in 1993, replacing Phillip DeFreitas in the Second Ashes test.
19.
Neil Foster 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.
20.
Neil Foster opened the bowling with Andy Caddick, and the Australians scored 632 for 4 declared.
21.
Neil Foster played only one more county game before retiring that year.
22.
Neil Foster became a chartered physiotherapist after he retired from professional cricket.
23.
Neil Foster gained his degree in physiotherapy from the University of Hertfordshire.