The name came from the fact that seven brothers from the Foster family played for Worcestershire during this period, three of whom captained the club at some point.
[2][3] The full list, with Worcestershire careers in brackets is: Basil Samuel (1902–11), Geoffrey Norman (1903–14), Henry Knollys (’Harry’) (1899–1925), Maurice Kirshaw (1908–34), Neville John Acland (1914–23), Reginald Erskine (’Tip’) (1899–1912) and Wilfrid Lionel (’Bill’) (1899–1911).
Against Kent in 1905,[9] Tip (246 not out), Harry (86) and Geoffrey (54) combined to lead Worcestershire to a club record total of 627 for 9 declared.
[14] Nonetheless, Tip is recognised as the finest cricketer of the brothers and was the only brother to represent England - although six of them represented the Marylebone Cricket Club on various occasions, none of the rest were during a match recognised as an international in which the MCC were equated with "England" as a national team.
The following table gives the Foster brothers' career dates and statistics for Worcestershire only, but in all first-class matches, not just those in the County Championship.