Maurice Linton Churchill Foster (born May 9, 1943) played 14

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

s and two

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

s for the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

and he was a talented

table-tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

player. He attended

Wolmer's Schools Wolmer's Schools in Kingston, Jamaica, consist of Wolmer's Pre-School, Wolmer's Preparatory School and two high schools: Wolmer's Trust High School For Girls and Wolmer's Trust High School for Boys. While acknowledged as separate institutions, ea ...

. A middle-order batsman and off-spinner, Foster played for Jamaica from 1963–64 to 1977–78, captaining the team from 1972–73 to 1977–78. After scoring centuries in the last two matches of the 1968–69 season as an opening batsman, he was selected to tour England in 1969. He scored 51 not out and 87 not out in the match against Somerset, and made his Test debut in the First Test, but scored only 4 and 3. His next Tests were the Fourth and Fifth against India in 1970–71, when he made 36 not out, 24 not out, 99 and 18. Against New Zealand in 1971–72 he made only 93 runs at 23.25 in the first three Tests. He made his only Test hundred, 125, in the First Test against Australia in 1972–73 in front of his home crowd at Kingston, putting on 210 for the fifth wicket with

Rohan Kanhai Rohan Babulal Kanhai (born 26 December 1935) is a Guyanese former cricketer of Tamil Indo-Guyanese origin , who represented the West Indies in 79 Test matches. He is widely considered to be one of the best batsmen of the 1960s. Kanhai featur ...

, but still played only four of the five Tests in that series. He toured England for a second time in 1973. Although he scored 828 runs at 63.69 in the first-class matches, his only Test was in the innings victory at Lord's (the only time he was on the winning side in 14 Tests; he made 9 runs). On the tour he was offered a contract to play county cricket for Kent by Colin Cowdrey. He declined because he had a good job in Jamaica and was reluctant to uproot his family. Thereafter his appearances were spasmodic as a new generation of batsmen emerged. His last Test, and his last first-class match, was in the Fifth Test against Australia in 1977–78 after the leading West Indies players had forfeited their Test places by signing with

Kerry Packer Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...

. Years later, Cowdrey ran across Foster in Barbados and said, “You know Foster, you should have taken up that contract at Kent. Then you would have played a lot more for the West Indies. His highest first-class score was 234 for Jamaica against Trinidad in 1976–77, and his best bowling figures were 5 for 65 against Guyana in 1971–72. According to

Michael Holding Michael Anthony Holding (born 16 February 1954) is a Jamaican former cricketer and commentator who played for the West Indies cricket team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pace bowlers in cricket history, he was nicknamed "Whispering Dea ...

,Sky Sports (8 April 2012) Foster's career was affected when his wife asked him to choose between her and a tour of India. He chose her. The genial Foster was also an excellent table tennis player, and at one time was West Indies champion. He is the brother of West Indian table tennis champions Joy Foster and the late Dave Foster.

References

External links

Maurice Foster at Cricinfo

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Maurice 1943 births Living people Jamaican cricketers West Indies One Day International cricketers West Indies Test cricketers Sportspeople from Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica Jamaica cricketers