Neil Foster

The only bowler to dismiss Javed Miandad and Sir Viv Richards for a duck in Tests, Neil Foster's international career was frustrating for those who knew his potential. Armed with a vicious outswinger, Foster could also move the ball both ways off the pitch, thereby making him a dangerous customer. Even the best of batsmen struggled against him, often having no answers against his unplayable spells. However, frequent injuries meant that his England career hit a road block several times, punctuated with multiple surgeries. Nevertheless, Foster was a mentally strong man who kept coming back, until 1993 when he felt it was an injury too many and hung up his boots.

At his best, Foster was the kind of bowler who could run through an opposition batting line-up. One wicket would spur him on to pick up a cluster of scalps in a single spell. Fitness concerns meant that he ended up playing more ODIs than Tests owing to the lesser workload. Foster had over 1200 wickets across formats in the domestic circuit but couldn't breach the 100-wicket mark in either format for England. Nevertheless, he was a great servant whenever he got the opportunity. There is a famous story about Foster at an airport when a metal detector set off due to the number of plates in his body; a testimony to the surgeries he endured. If not for those fitness issues, he could have ended up as one of the finest pacers of all time.

Written by Hariprasad Sadanandan