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(Part 20.) Waiting in the wings.
But for a falling out with the manager of the Jamaican national table tennis team, Maurice Foster might have been lost to cricket completely.
As it transpired, that dispute with officialdom prompted Foster’s father to pull Maurice and his younger brother and sister—all members of the national squad—out of the sport altogether.
And with 31 days to go to the 50th anniversary of the West Indies victory over Australia in the inaugural men’s Cricket World Cup final at Lord’s, we look at the career of one of two players in the 14-man Caribbean squad whose only involvement in the tournament was the occasional appearance as a substitute fielder.
It is no exaggeration to say that Foster was a natural at sport. He excelled in his first love, table tennis, but also showed his worth at Wolmer’s Boys’ School in cricket, football, tennis and hockey.
Eventually it was cricket that put him in the international spotlight, although the consistency he showed in regional first-class competition, 6,731 runs at 45.17, eluded him in 14 Tests spread across nine years.
Were he playing now, a Test average of 30.52 would have made him a sure pick in the regional team. But, even with the West Indies in the doldrums in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Foster failed to hold a regular spot in the batting line-up—even as he continued to pile up the runs in the Shell Shield with his easy, wristy style of play.
A double failure on debut in Manchester on the 1969 tour of England meant that his next opportunity didn’t arrive until the final two Tests of the home series against India in 1971.
And it was at the Queen’s Park Oval where he played what he later described as his best Test innings—coping with the India’s wily famed spin quartet on a raging turner, only to be undone on 99 by the gentle medium-pace of Abid Ali.
He did get to a Test century eventually. Appropriately, it came on his home ground, Sabina Park, at the start of the 1973 series against Australia.
But that 125 apart, there was no other score above 35 in what was ultimately a disappointing series for him and the West Indies, as they lost the duel for the Frank Worrell Trophy 2-0.
Retained for the subsequent England tour, he only played in the final Test at Lord’s but also featured in the West Indies’ first-ever One-Day Internationals at the end of that campaign. He scoring 25 at the top of the order in partnership with Roy Fredericks, in the first of two matches.
Frustrated at the selectors’ lack of faith in him, Foster declined the invitation to be part of the squad for the tour of India and Pakistan in 1974/75. His absence gave a young batsman from Antigua and Barbuda by the name of Vivian Richards the chance to make a name for himself.
He did accept World Cup selection, although it was always likely that he would spend most of his time that fortnight in the dressing room. But Foster was not alone as a non-playing squad member.
Find out who it is next, as the 14th and final member of the 1975 West Indies World Cup squad is profiled.
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Fazeer Mohammed is a journalist/broadcaster with almost 40 years’ experience across a range of media.
His interest in cricket, and particularly its history, started at home via his father’s small collection of autobiographies and magazines, offering perspectives and context which have informed his commentary and analysis on contemporary issues in the game.
