Caroline Atkins

Caroline Mary Ghislaine Foster (née Atkins; born 13 January 1981) is an English cricket coach and former player. She was a right-handed batter and right-arm medium bowler who appeared in 9 Test matches, 58 One Day Internationals and 19 Twenty20 Internationals for England between 2001 and 2011. She primarily played county cricket for Sussex before ending her career with Somerset. She also spent two Women's National Cricket League seasons with South Australia.^[1]

Caroline Foster

Personal information
Full name	Caroline Mary Ghislaine Foster
Born	(1981-01-13) 13 January 1981 (age 44) Burgess Hill, West Sussex, England
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm medium
Role	Batter
International information
National side	England (2001–2011)
Test debut (cap 128)	24 June 2001 v Australia
Last Test	22 January 2011 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 91)	3 July 2001 v Australia
Last ODI	26 February 2010 v India
T20I debut (cap 16)	5 August 2006 v India
Last T20I	18 January 2011 v Australia
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1996–2012	Sussex
2003/04–2004/05	South Australia
2013–2014	Somerset
Career statistics
Competition WTest WODI WT20I WLA Matches 9 58 19 227 Runs scored 357 1,291 56 5,374 Batting average 21.00 30.02 5.60 33.17 100s/50s 0/3 1/6 0/0 3/34 Top score 90 145 20* 145 Balls bowled 90 6 – 2,286 Wickets 1 0 – 57 Bowling average 44.00 – – 24.68 5 wickets in innings 0 – – 0 10 wickets in match 0 – – 0 Best bowling 1/9 – – 4/19 Catches/stumpings 5/– 14/– 2/– 83/–
Source: CricketArchive, 7 March 2021

Early life

Foster was born on 13 January 1981 in Burgess Hill, West Sussex.^[2] She attended Burgess Hill Girls, an all-girls private school.^[3] She attended Hild Bede College at Durham University, where she was the first woman cricketer in the Durham University Centre of Cricketing Excellence, graduating in 2002. While at Durham, she was part of the women's team that won the BUSA cricket championship for the first time and played for the men's team against Cardiff UCCE, as well as being selected for the England squad against Australia in 2001.^[4][5]

International career

In January 2002, Foster and Arran Brindle shared a partnership of 200 against India at K. D. Singh Babu Stadium, Lucknow, which was at the time a record for the first wicket in women's Test cricket.^[6][7]

Foster was a member of the side which retained the Ashes in Australia in 2008.^[8][9]

In August 2008, Foster and Sarah Taylor shared a partnership of 268 against South Africa at Lord's, which was at the time a record for any wicket in women's One Day Internationals. Foster was dismissed for 145, her highest score in international cricket.^[10][11]

Foster was a member of the England team which won both the World Cup and World Twenty20 in 2009.^[12]

Coaching career

Foster is employed by the Cricket Foundation as a Chance to Shine coaching ambassador and is a coach at Queen's College, an independent school in Taunton, Somerset.^[13][14] She was the head coach of Western Storm for the 2016 Women's Cricket Super League.^[15]