by Mayukh Ghosh
Reginald Erskine Foster died 105 years ago, at the age of 36.
In his short life he led England in both football and cricket, still the only man to do so.
He scored 287 on his Test debut, still the highest score by a debutant.
And that 287, after all these years, is till the highest Test score by an Englishman in Australia.
If this sounds unfamiliar, it is probably because we know him better as ‘Tip’ Foster.
Late in 2017, Anthony Collis’ labour of love on Foster and his family was published.
Quite a talented family it was.
Seven brothers. Four sisters. And the parents.
Collis was honest about his experience.
When I asked him about what motivated him to write the book, his answer was detailed:
“I have a love of cricket, particularly the cricket heroes of yesteryear, many of whom are long forgotten in the present-day, as public interest tends to be confined to the growing scourge of Twenty20 cricket.
On the subject of cricket books, I asked myself: “Who would I write about?” The answer happened by chance, when I revisited Malvern, where I had worked prior to my retirement. Knowing my interest in cricket, a friend mentioned that some graves of the Foster family were in need of repair and that the local Civic Society was seeking advice on the best course of action. I took the lead role on the project and the graves were restored to their former glory and rededicated on the 100th anniversary of R.E. ‘Tip’ Foster’s death. Tip was one of seven sons, all of whom played first-class cricket for Worcestershire. In short, they were a forgotten family, and all seven brothers had led interesting lives outside of cricket. I had found my subject – or rather 13 subjects, as it transpired!
As I researched material, I was surprised that no book had been written about the family before (It should be noted that the brothers also had four sisters!). Fortunately, some magazine articles had been written, but nothing in one comprehensive volume.
Consequently, I decided “If I wanted to read it, I would have to write it!” “
Easier said that done, of course!
Researching the family was tricky.
“My research benefited greatly from Mrs Foster’s Albums, which are housed at Malvern College, where Revd. Henry Foster became a housemaster in 1867, two years after the College was founded. His wife, Sophia kept cuttings and notes of her children’s sporting activities. I perused them and took numerous photocopies and photographs to serve as memory aids later on.
I established contact with some of the siblings’ descendants, who were delighted and more than willing to share their knowledge with me.
I possess a fairly extensive library at home, which provided some additional information.
Modern-day research is much easier than it would have been 20 years earlier, due to the availability of the Internet, in particular Cricket Archive with detailed scorecards.
I belong to various cricket societies and made an appeal to members for any contributions they might wish to share.”
A project like this was bound to be marred with obstacles. And serious ones. Collis too had them.
“The main problem was the scale of the task - 7 sons, 4 daughters, 2 parents (plus numerous descendants). It was clear that I had to decide where to draw the line.
Other problems included:
The passage of time that had elapsed – few interviewees were available for personal observations. George Chesterton, former Worcestershire cricketer, was the only person with first-hand recall of Johnnie, the youngest sibling, who died in 1978. Chesterton kindly shared his own fund of knowledge, but he himself died in 2015.
When it came to writing the book, the biggest problem was to decide how to structure the book. I had made 3 previous attempts (all proved either difficult to avoid repetition or became tedious to write, which made me think of the poor reader!)
I decided to focus on Tip as the central character – after all, he was the most famous, and to this day, still holds the record score on Test debut; the only man to have captained England at both cricket and football and for much of his short life could have been a character straight out of a Boys Own comic.
Tip, therefore occupied the first half of the book, which would cover his sad, short life of 36 years. The other characters would appear in individual pen portraits, highlighting their careers without going into great detail.”
Collis had a clear idea about the outcome he expected. And those, understandably, were not sky-high expectations.
“I knew at the outset that my work would not be a best-seller. There was little interest shown by the sample of publishers that I approached. The subject was too narrow – and one publisher – remarked that they were all ‘unknowns’.
I also was concerned that each publisher stipulated demands regarding style, wordage, content etc.
I opted for a private publication, which enabled me to print as many or as few copies as I wished, thereby enabling me not to incur a huge amount to pay upfront for printing.
I would rather print a small quantity, sell and re-order than print a large number and get left with hundreds of unsold copies. Digital printing enables small runs at a reasonable price.”
Collis also wanted to express his gratitude to the people who helped him get the job done.
“In addition to the Foster family’s support, I also received great from Malvern College, Malvern Civic Society, MCC Museum at Lord’s, Worcestershire CCC, and various Cricket Societies, plus numerous individuals.
Proof reading of individual chapters was undertaken by respective relatives to ensure that inaccuracies, known only to the family, were avoided as much as possible.
Collis was kind enough to share few of the tricks which worked for him and the lessons he had learned from the writing of this book.
“The outcome of my task was made easier by my previous failed attempts. Once I had decided on the structure, I created an Excel Spreadsheet – which I had not done previously – on which I allocated a target number of words per chapter. I also set a realistic target date for each chapter with a final deadline for the whole book to be completed. I allocated an arbitrary percentage ranging from 0 to 100, depending on the approximate amount of work completed. At first, the number of zeroes seemed extremely daunting, but as each in time became 100 and the overall percentage gradually increased, it spurred me on – and kept me on track. It certainly worked for me!”
The Fosters deserved a biography and Anthony Collis had certainly done his bit by filling this gap in cricket’s literature.
Copies do appear in the market from time to time and it is well worth waiting for this one.