One of cricket’s longest standing records is that of the highest individual score in an innings on Test debut. England’s Reginald ‘Tip' Foster, who was born on this day in 1878, scored a majestic 287 at Sydney in 1903 in his first Test. His feat remains unsurpassed.

Worcestershire was for a time known as “Fostershire' — all seven sons of a local clergyman and school headmaster named Henry Foster played first-class cricket for their county before the First World War.

The most famous of the brothers was Henry’s third son Reginald Erskine Foster, who was born on April 16, 1877, at Malvern, an idyllic spa town around 180km from London that was also home to the great composer Sir Edward Elgar.

Reginald, better known in cricket literature as RE Foster or by his nickname Tip, still holds several records for his country — he is the only man to have captained England in both cricket and football. And he still has a world record to his name: his 287 at Sydney in 1903 remains the highest score in an innings by a batsman on Test debut.

Foster took up cricket following in the footsteps of his older brothers Harry and Wilfred and played a key role in getting Worcestershire first-class status in 1899. Wilfred and Tip each scored hundreds in both innings of a match — a record held in Tests by the Chappell brothers Ian and Greg — and the following year he was considered good enough to lead Oxford University. A series of good scores for both Oxford and his county meant Tip Foster was named one of the five Wisden cricketers of the year in 1901.

And he was quite a sportsman. Foster also played football for the Corinthians and won six caps for England, making his debut in 1900. He captained the side against Wales in his final match, in 1902.

He also played in the very first England match against Germany, scoring six goals in a 12-0 amateur team victory at White Hart Lane in 1901.

Foster, who had by this time become quite a draw with his exquisite batting on the off side, would have appeared for his country in cricket sooner if it was not for 'business commitments' — by this time he had also begun dabbling in stocks as a profession.

In 1903, Foster agreed to join the MCC team that was to tour Australia under Pelham Warner — a side depleted by the absence of CB Fry and Ranjitsinhji, who refused to sail. The media was both excited and bemused at the thought of a former England football captain having been picked for the tour of Australia which included some of the biggest cricketing names of the time — Victor Trumper, Clem Hill, captain Monty Noble, Syd Gregory.

Foster’s debut was worth the wait. In the first Test at Sydney that began on December 11, 1903, Noble won the toss and batted first. If morning shows the day, it was proven when Foster’s fellow debutant and county mate Ted Arnold struck cricketing jackpot. Off his very first ball in Test cricket, Arnold had the great Trumper caught by Foster in the slips and went on to scalp four wickets as the hosts folded up for 285.

England’s reply was shaky as they lost early wickets. Foster, batting at number 5, was joined by Len Braund with the team reaching 117 for 4 at lunch on the second day.

But as the innings progressed, Foster’s confidence grew and his strokeplay flourished. Braund got out for 102 with England on 309, triggering a collapse with three more wickets falling quickly to leave the team at 332 for 8. Australia sniffed a chance but Foster had other ideas.

The 25-year-old soon went past Charles Bannerman’s unbeaten 165 — at that time the highest score on debut scored in the very first Test that was played. Foster then added 115 with Albert Relf for the ninth wicket and 130 — then a tenth-wicket record — with Wilfred Rhodes. During the course of the innings, Foster eclipsed the then highest individual Test score of 211 by Billy Murdoch and was last out for 287, made off 419 deliveries and which included 37 sparkling boundaries. England were all out for 577.

Australia fared better in the second innings getting 485 with Trumper scoring a majestic unbeaten 185. Left to score 194 for a win, England had a few hiccups — Foster fell cheaply for 19 — but won by five wickets.

Although this was Foster’s only Test century, he maintained a Test average of 46.30 from eight Tests, quite respectable for that era. He also led England in his last three tests against South Africa and signed off with 51 and 35. Foster was only 29 when he played his last Test for England. But by this time he was an established broker on the London Stock Exchange and couldn’t find time to devote to the game he loved.

Foster was only 36 when he died on May 13, 1914, from complications arising out of diabetes, and, according to one report, “while attempting to eat a boiled egg'.

In its obituary of Foster, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack wrote: “In his position at the wicket — he stood with both eyes turned full on the bowler — and his general style of play, Mr Foster was quite modern but, in adapting himself to swerving bowlers, he did not, like so many batsmen, lose his brilliancy on the off-side. Nothing could have been finer than his hitting past cover-point, and his late cut was a model of safety and clever placing. After his two hundreds for the Gentlemen in 1900, CB Fry said of him that no one, except Ranjitsinhji, could wield a bat with greater quickness.”