David Shepherd (who later achieved fame as an umpire) was another Gloucestershire player with a record that wouldn't bear much scrutiny. He played 282 FC matches, averaged 24, 183 List A matches, average 21, didn't bowl and, unlike Foat, couldn't field - they couldn't even hide him in the slips, he used to plod round benignly at mid on. Most counties had players like this - essentially, making up the numbers and not being paid very much. A lot of good players would refuse a career in County Cricket because they couldn't afford it.
Mankad and Foat on the same team would be glorious.
"Then, of course, was his [Foat's] ability to get under the skin of the opposition. There was an incident two years after he ran out Greig. Once again they were playing Sussex, this time in a County Championship match. Gloucestershire were set 303 in 3 hours, and both sides had settled for a draw.
But then, suddenly, they decided to go for it; this involved maniacal running, and Foat kept backing up; a frustrated, near-violent Greig lost his temper, and even stopped mid-way to prove that Foat was backing up — but to no avail. “You f***ing cheat,” yelled Greig, only for Foat to steal a bye when Hignell missed the ball.
That broke the poor camel’s back. Greig yelled at poor Mike Faber, the reserve wicketkeeper, called Hignell a “bearded c**t”, and his bowling went awry thereafter. Foat was bowled by John Snow for 2, but he had wound up Greig sufficiently. The target was eventually chased down in the penultimate over."
I'm sad I can't find any Jim Foat highlight videos. Surely someone in his fan club can rectify this.
How about this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKuA6sI5HiM
Foat is the non-striker when Tony Brown plays the shot that takes him to 50 at 3:55. Foat was batting at number 8.
David Shepherd (who later achieved fame as an umpire) was another Gloucestershire player with a record that wouldn't bear much scrutiny. He played 282 FC matches, averaged 24, 183 List A matches, average 21, didn't bowl and, unlike Foat, couldn't field - they couldn't even hide him in the slips, he used to plod round benignly at mid on. Most counties had players like this - essentially, making up the numbers and not being paid very much. A lot of good players would refuse a career in County Cricket because they couldn't afford it.
Mankad and Foat on the same team would be glorious.
"Then, of course, was his [Foat's] ability to get under the skin of the opposition. There was an incident two years after he ran out Greig. Once again they were playing Sussex, this time in a County Championship match. Gloucestershire were set 303 in 3 hours, and both sides had settled for a draw.
But then, suddenly, they decided to go for it; this involved maniacal running, and Foat kept backing up; a frustrated, near-violent Greig lost his temper, and even stopped mid-way to prove that Foat was backing up — but to no avail. “You f***ing cheat,” yelled Greig, only for Foat to steal a bye when Hignell missed the ball.
That broke the poor camel’s back. Greig yelled at poor Mike Faber, the reserve wicketkeeper, called Hignell a “bearded c**t”, and his bowling went awry thereafter. Foat was bowled by John Snow for 2, but he had wound up Greig sufficiently. The target was eventually chased down in the penultimate over."
https://www.cricketcountry.com/articles/jim-foat-crickets-unlikeliest-cult-hero-356065