10 best Essex cricketers of all time 

9 James Foster

Essex's veteran wicketkeeper James Foster has been one of the pillars of the county cricket team for around 17 years now and his exceptional abilities as a 'keeper were never in much doubt.

A year after making his county cricket debut for Essex, Foster was selected by England for the tour to India but his international career never took off due to the presence of Alex Stewart and his own injury, that saw other wicketkeepers usurping his place in the side.

He ended up playing only 7 Tests and 11 one day internationals for England. Foster has played 283 first-class games in his career and is credited with 883 wicketkeeping dismissals in his career so far. Foster has also developed into a fine batsman over the past few years and helped Essex win the Country Championships in 2017.