It’s with great sadness the Wonga Park Cricket announces the passing of past player – Steve Foster.
It’s fair to say that Fos was larger than life both on and off, the field. He arrived at the Club in 1973 and immediately made an impression as a brilliant cricketer. An extreme, aggressive, fast bowler who took no prisoners. Mick McMahon (WPCC Life Member) noted in the Club’s centenary book (2011) that ‘Fos is still the most talented cricketer he had seen at Wonga’.
Steve was a member of our back to back Chandler Shield Premiership teams in 1974-75 and 1975-76, and Mick describes Fos’s bowling in the the 1975-76 GF ‘as good as bowling as you’d ever see’. 5-53 off 13 overs to win the game for Wonga. Flapper says his follow through would end nearly at the batsman, with Stoney the wicket keeper standing a further 6-8 paces back than he would normally, ’13 overs of the fastest bowling in the RDCA’. He also took his aggression to lower order batting, regularly hitting the boundaries!, like in the 1974-75 GF when he came with Wonga needing 15 runs to win, 8 down. Fos blasts thee fours!! That was Fos – as a cricketer – tough, aggressive, and uncompromising, mixed with huge natural talent and great work ethic.
Fos coached Juniors at Wonga and in 1981-82 was appointed senior coach. In his coach’s report for the season he commented that ‘season 1981-82 probably was not a very inspiring one …’ Typical Fos, blunt, straight to the point and no sugar coating
Brother Graeme followed Steve to the Club in the late 70’s and himself was a handy cricketer and was also President of Wonga Park. The Foster family certainly made a great impression and contribution, at Wonga. Following his time at Wonga Fos went on to play district cricket at North Melbourne.
Fos played just as hard off the field and the stories his many mates at the Club tell are wildly amusing to say the least! He had a passion for horses and was involved in many syndicates with old Wonga mates while living in Qld, which he has called home for last 20 plus years’. He continued to play cricket and coach when he arrived in Qld.
The Wonga Park Cricket Club would like to extend our deepest sympathies and best wishes to Fos’s wife Margaret, and his son Matthew in these difficult times.
Thanks Fos, a life lived to the fullest.
Wonga Park Cricket Club
Some stats:
Games played: 70+,
Runs: 500+, Wickets: 200+,
Bowling Awards: 2, 5 Wicket Innings: 13
Inducted into WPCC Hall of Fame 2010-11
{“type”:”block”,”srcClientIds”:[“a5353161-0d58-4e1e-9e22-6ebd7840dab5″],”srcRootClientId”:””}
