Thomas Wass
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Thomas Wass (Thomas George Wass or simply Tom Wass; born December 26, 1873, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, England; died October 27, 1953, Sutton-in-Ashfield) was a Nottinghamshire bowler who is best remembered, along with Hallam, for astonishing triumphs that gave Nottinghamshire a brilliant County Championship win in 1907. Wass also holds the record for the most wickets taken for Nottinghamshire - 1633 for 20.34 each.
If by no means the best bowler never to play a Test match, Wass was certainly the most individual. Tall and solidly built, he had a highly rhythmic run-up that allowed him to be, in his prime, very fast through the air. However, it was his deadly leg-cutter that made him formidable, and unusually for a bowler of his pace it seemed to lose pace upon pitching, so that Wass was very dangerous after rain (he had, unlike most fast bowlers, no trouble gaining a foothold on wet ground) but generally ineffective on a firm pitch. On a sticky wicket, this leg-cutter could turn enough that he was near impossible to play and his speed through the air made him very hard to hit. Wass was always rather inconsistent and even in his best seasons always had the occasional disappointing day when he could not bowl a good length, yet when he did and the pitch was soft he could be the most unplayable bowler in county cricket. Wass was a very moderate fieldsman and had no pretensions to be a batsman - in his only first-class fifty, he was dropped four times!
Having gained a reputation in local cricket, Wass took some time to establish himself in the Nottinghamshire side. In his first two full seasons, he had very modest records, but in 1900, he became Nottinghamshire's chief bowler, along with John Gunn sparking a revival of the County's fortunes after several years of poor form. In 1901, apart from one match on a sticky wicket against a weak Derbyshire eleven, Wass was so disappointing he was dropped from the side, but on the wet wickets of 1902 he was one of the most difficult bowlers in the game. This was seen when he proved quite irresistible against a strong Sussex batting side at Hove and took nine for 91 in the first innings against Surrey at the Oval. It remains noteworthy how Wass' bowling was the decisive factor in every Nottinghamshire victory that summer:
- v Sussex at Hove: seven for 19 and five for 22
- TOTAL 12 wickets for 41 runs
- v Leicestershire at Leicester: eight for 73 and five for 41
- TOTAL 13 wickets for 114 runs
- v Derbyshire at Derby: three for 75 and six for 152
- TOTAL 9 wickets for 227 runs (on one of the few hard wickets of a wet summer)
- v Gloucestershire at Trent Bridge: six for 94 and seven for 60
- TOTAL 13 wickets for 154 runs
- v Derbyshire at Trent Bridge: five for 64 and six for 53
- TOTAL 11 wickets for 117 runs
- v Lancashire at Old Trafford: five for 64 and seven for 48
- TOTAL 12 wickets for 112 runs
- GRAND TOTAL for six wins: 70 wickets for 765 runs, average 10.93
In 1903, despite numerous soft pitches, Wass was extremely ineffective (though this was attributed, probably wrongly, to the extreme placidity of the Trent Bridge wickets in fine weather), but in 1904, though overworked in unfavourable conditions, he was thought good enough to play for the Players at Kennington Oval. In 1905, he was at times deadly but handicapped severely by an injury in a local game and occasional poor form.
May 1906 saw Wass at his deadliest, including one of the most remarkable games in county cricket at Aigburth, where he took 16 wickets in a day, yet Nottinghamshire still lost. However, after he recovered from a strain sustained in the Whitsuntide game against Surrey "the long-continued dry weather found out his limitations" (Wisden 1907). In 1907, however, Wass opened with something even more sensational: taking 6 wickets for 3 runs against the MCC after two blank days. This time wet weather continued almost continuously all summer, allowing Wass and Hallam to dominate match after match to such an extent that they took 298 wickets between them in just nineteen games and Nottinghamshire won fifteen of these and were never defeated. Yet, Wass, as always, would occasionally bowl downright badly (as in Nottinghamshire's narrowest wins against Essex at Leyton and Middlesex at Lord's). Nobody else bar John Gunn did any serious work, and Gunn took only 25 wickets.
Wass was chosen in the thirteen for the First Test against South Africa at Lord's and to this day many historians believe a mistake was made in leaving him out, arguing his bowling could have finished the match on the second day (July 3, 1907 saw the rare occurrence of a complete washout of cricket in England ie. a day when not a ball was bowled in any first-class match). His bowling being dependent on soft wickets, he was not considered for the Ashes tour the following winter, but he again bowled well in 1908, playing for the Players at Lord's and taking sixteen wickets in a day for the second time against Essex in June. 1909 was disappointing, but 1910 showed Wass, though reduced in speed through the air, to have retained his distinctive leg-cutter and potency on sticky wickets - starkly illustrated in the against Surrey at Trent Bridge when he took fourteen wickets for 91. Though Hallam had gone, and the summer was exceedingly dry, Wass still worked hard in 1911 and on the few helpful pitches, remained formidable even if he did not always find his length. At Blackwell, he took a career-best nine for 67 to give Nottinghamshire a surprisingly easy win, whilst his tireless work on a hard pitch won Nottinghamshire an impressive victory at Old Trafford.
The wet summer of 1912 was, considering the wickets, disappointing, and 1913 saw him fail to reach 100 wickets in a full season for the first time in ten years. 1914, when Wass was handicapped by injury and missed seven games, proved to be the end of his career even though he had shown no intention to retire before World War I began. Wass did not play in 1919, and his failure when reappearing for Joe Hardstaff's benefit in 1920 showed that, at forty-six, he was far too old for serious cricket.
