1902 | R.E. Tip Foster #2 | WM Clarke & Son | Football Series | PSA 5 1/1

Reginald Erskine Foster (16 April 1878 – 13 May 1914), nicknamed Tip Foster, commonly designated R. E. Foster in sporting literature, was an English first-class cricketer and footballer. He is the only man to have captained England at both sports and one of 12 to play both sports for their country. 

This WM Clarke set card is significantly rarer than Wills set of same year / photo. This is the only PSA graded card of this player and Graded 5 - excellent. 

Cricket records 

In the first Test at Sydney in 1903, Foster scored 287. This was the highest score in Test cricket until 1930 (surpassed by Andy Sandham), and remains the highest score by a debutant and the third highest by a batsman of any nationality against Australia, home or away (surpassed only by Len Hutton's 364 in 1938 & Ross Taylor's 290 in 2015). For more than a century, Foster also held the record for the highest score in a test match at the SCG, his score not being beaten until Australian Michael Clarke scored 329 not out against India in January 2012. Foster did not follow it up, until the final Test on a vicious wicket at Melbourne. 

Football records

In football, Foster played as a forward for the Corinthians in the early 1900s, scoring 22 goals in 26 matches. He also played for Old Malvernians, a team made up of ex pupils from Malvern College.

He played five matches for England 1900 and 1902, making his debut against Wales on 26 March 1900. In his second game, against Ireland at the Dell, Southampton, he scored his first international goal in a 3–0 victory. C. B. Fry played at full-back in the same game. Foster was awarded the captaincy against Wales in his final appearance on 3 March 1902, which ended in a 0–0 draw. During his short England career he scored two goals.

He also played one match for England Amateurs against Germany, on 21 September 1901, at White Hart Lane, London. He scored 6 (one source gives 7) in a 12-0 win.