'˜Jack and Victor of bowling' Paul Foster and Alex Marshall seek roles in Still Game

Alex Marshall and Paul Foster with their Commonwealth Games gold medal. Picture: Andrew O'Brien

At Glasgow 2014, they became cult heroes following 50-year-old Marshall’s “get it up ye” gesture in a tense semi-final victory over the Auld Enemy. They went on to win the final against Malaysia and the families of the pair, who also helped Scotland top the podium in the Fours in Glasgow, revealed that despite the age difference, their close friendship and winning partnership had seen the bowling stars likened to the main characters in the hit BBC comedy.

And they insisted that their antics could give fictional pensioners Jack and Victor a run for their money.

But, in the wake of those high-profile performances at Kelvingrove, Foster, 44, has revealed that they are disappointed not to have been approached by anyone from the show. He says that if they were to top the podium again when they head to Australia next year, the ideal reward would be an appearance alongside comedic duo Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill’s alter egos.

Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill as Jack and Victor in Still Game.

“It’s Jack and Victor all day long. Everybody talks about it and says, ‘here’s Jack and Victor coming’. We just laugh it off. But here’s hoping – we could maybe get a part in a show but it’s not happened yet.”

Mulling over the potential, he claims there could be real comedy value in a scripted meeting, perhaps at a Craiglang bowling green, where a clash would also allow for one of Tattie’s trademark gestures to be incorporated into a sketch.

“I think it would be great because when we won the pairs in Glasgow people were calling us Jack and Victor. I thought it was brilliant. It’s great coverage for me and Alex and for bowls. I’ve always laughed and wished one day we’d get a part to see what would happen.”

The reigning World Singles Champion, who is also a partner in an Ayrshire taxi firm, has not given up hope, keeping his fingers crossed that another Commonwealth success will pique the interest of the show’s scriptwriters and earn him and his friend a pint in the programme’s famous Clansman pub.

“The good thing is we’re the best of mates as everybody knows and he was my best man at my wedding,” Foster says of his relationship with Marshall.

“We get on so well on the green and off the green and the laughs and jokes we have when we’re away rooming together, and the things we get up to, it’s not to repeat. Alex is a Hearts man. I used to be a Rangers man but because of what’s happened there I don’t really follow them that much now. I’m an Arsenal man and he’s Newcastle so there’s a bit of banter with football and other things as well.

“He sometimes laughs and jokes as he’s got more world titles, just things like that. It’s good banter because it keeps him going and it keeps me going. We’re both still hungry for success and as long as we’re like that I’m sure we will be.

“We just get on so well. That’s the biggest plus. I know the shots he can play and he knows the shots I can play and we’ve got belief in each other and that’s why we’ve been so successful.”