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Full name James Savin Foster
Born April 15, 1980, Whipps Cross, Leytonstone, Essex
Current age 28 years 100 days
Major teams England,Durham UCCE,Essex
Nickname Fozzy, Chief
Batting style Right-hand bat
Fielding position Wicketkeeper
Height
6 ft 0 in
Education Forest School; Durham University
Batting and fielding averages
Mat
Inns
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
BF
SR
100
50
4s
6s
Ct
St
Tests
7
12
3
226
48
25.11
654
34.55
0
0
27
1
17
1
ODIs
11
6
3
41
13
13.66
71
57.74
0
0
0
0
13
7
First-class
132
196
24
5796
212
33.69
9
29
350
33
List A
128
100
26
1781
69*
24.06
0
6
155
36
Twenty20
45
37
8
660
62*
22.75
482
136.92
0
3
54
21
19
13
Bowling averages
Mat
Inns
Balls
Runs
Wkts
BBI
BBM
Ave
Econ
SR
4w
5w
10
Tests
7
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
ODIs
11
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
First-class
132
12
6
0
-
-
-
3.00
-
0
0
0
List A
128
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Twenty20
45
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Career statistics
Test debut
India v England at Mohali, Dec 3-6, 2001 scorecard
Last Test
Australia v England at Melbourne, Dec 26-30, 2002 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut
Zimbabwe v England at Harare, Oct 3, 2001 scorecard
Last ODI
New Zealand v England at Christchurch, Feb 13, 2002 scorecard
ODI statistics
First-class debut
2000
Last First-class
Glamorgan v Essex at Cardiff, Jul 11-14, 2008 scorecard
List A debut
2000
Last List A
Leicestershire v Essex at Leicester, Jul 20, 2008 scorecard
Twenty20 debut
Surrey v Essex at East Molesey, Jun 14, 2003 scorecard
Last Twenty20
Essex v Northamptonshire at Chelmsford, Jul 7, 2008 scorecard
Profile
James Foster was earmarked early on as an England wicketkeeper in the making. After just four first-class matches for Essex he was selected for the England A tour of West Indies in 2000-01. At this point he was still sharing the English season between his studies at Durham University and playing for Essex, but once he committed full-time to cricket he was being talked of as a successor to Alec Stewart. His chance came on the 2001-02 one-day tour of Zimbabwe, where he made his debut at Harare, before earning a spot on the trip to India after Stewart opted out. He made a nervous start at Mohali, but became more assured during the tour and impressed with some determined innings. He retained his place for the tour of New Zealand after Christmas, but was ousted from the one-day squad when England searched for greater balance by using Marcus Trescothick. Then came a cruel break - literally - when his arm was broken during nets with Essex, allowing Alec Stewart to slot back into the team. Though Foster performed consistently in county cricket there was no way back in the summer of 2002, but he'd done enough to be the reserve keep on the Ashes tour that winter. He won one more Test cap, at Melbourne, when Stewart injured his arm, but was fighting a losing battle as England attempted to field five bowlers. When Stewart retired at the end of the 2003 season Andrew Flintoff's emergence had opened the way for a keeper at No. 7 - but it was Chris Read, not Foster, who got the nod. Since them, Geraint Jones has claimed the gloves and latterly Matt Prior. However, if Foster continues to churn out runs and hold catches for Essex another chance is not out of the question and he was promoted to vice-captain during the 2007 season.
Andrew McGlashan July 2007
