Essex CCC
Foster Gets England Contract
Well Done!
By Dave Buxton
April 10 2002
Essex's and England's James Foster has been rewarded for some good performances for England this winter by being selected in the 11 to receive England Central Contracts.
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Fossy, as we know him, has shown up well this winter for England, especially with the bat and with his performances rightly has been selected over Alec Stewart and others for the keeper's spot in the 11 named so far, along with Essex Club and England captain Nasser Hussain. There is an optional 12th to come. On the subject England Chairman of selectors David Graveney said: "We have been very happy with James's efforts over the winter. The situation has been explained to Alec Stewart and I can confirm that he will not be excluded from future discussions regarding Team selection." So, Fossy gets the nod for the moment at least and I'm sure in the summer will show again why. His keeping does need to be improved, but this will come for the young man from Woodford. James has said he's delighted with the news in an interview with Radio 5 Live, which you can listen to here if you have Real Player. The full list of 11 are, (Essex players shown in bold):
Captain: Nasser Hussain (Essex) Great news for Fossy and for Essex. I'm sure his family are very pleased and so they should. His dramatic rise up the levels shows what it's all about. Only in 2000 he was part of the then Wanstead team who were Essex League Champions, the same season he plays for Essex and scores 50 on debut and just a year later James gets selected for England, performs well and now gets a Central Contract! Superb stuff! Of course, there is a downside to this, being that most centrally contracted players will miss the first Championship match in the county season, plus some of the early Benson & Hedges Cup games. But, I expect Fossy will be allowed to play more than the bowlers for example and also because he's young and needs matches. When he is unavailable, Andy Flower should keep wicket to allow another batter or bowler to play, depending on the situation. Barry Hyam, as was said at The Members' Forum last week, is also in contention.
'Scimitars' would like to congratulate Fossy on this acheivement. Leave you congrats and thoughts on the messageboard, link below. Date: 10/4/02 |
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