Thomas Wass
Encyclopedia
Thomas Wass was a Nottinghamshire bowler who is best remembered, along with Hallam
Albert Hallam
Albert Hallam was an off spin bowler who is primarily remembered, along with Thomas Wass, for giving Nottinghamshire an astonishing win in the County Championship of 1907...

, for bowling that gave Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...

 a brilliant County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...

 win in 1907. Wass also holds the record for the most wickets taken for Nottinghamshire - 1633 for 20.34 each.

Tall and solidly built, Wass had a highly rhythmic run-up that allowed him to be, in his prime, fast through the air. However, it was his leg-cutter that made him formidable, and Wass unlike most fast bowlers of the time was very dangerous after rain but less effective on a firm pitch when the ball did not turn. He also had a very difficult slower ball that on his best days caught many batsmen unaware. Wass was a very moderate fieldsman and had no pretensions to be a batsman - though he did score 56 against Derbyshire
Derbyshire County Cricket Club
Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...

 in 1906, he was dropped four times in doing so.

Wass began his career in local cricket but became a professional for Edinburgh Academicals and Liverpool. Qualified by residence, Wass was offered a place on the Lancashire staff but declined, yet he still took some time to establish himself in a Nottinghamshire side that was in the late 1890s exceedingly weak in bowling. In his first two full seasons, he had very modest records, but in 1900, he became Nottinghamshire's chief bowler with John Gunn
John Gunn (cricketer)
John Richmond Gunn was an English cricketer who played in six Tests from 1901 to 1905....

. 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. He took 58 wickets at the contemporaneously high cost of 29.72. On the wet wickets of 1902 he was one of the most difficult bowlers in the game. He captured 140 wkts at 15.89. It remains noteworthy how Wass's bowling was the decisive factor in each 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
    Trent Bridge
    Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of...

    : 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
    Old Trafford (cricket)
    Old Trafford is a cricket ground situated on Talbot Road in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester. It has been the home of Lancashire County Cricket Club since its foundation in 1864, having been the ground of Manchester Cricket Club from 1857...

    : 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 less effective taking 76 wickets, but in 1904, though overworked in unfavourable conditions, he appeared for the Players at Kennington Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...

. In 1905, he was at times deadly but handicapped by an injury in a local game.

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
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...

 1907)
. In 1907, however, Wass opened with something even more sensational: taking 6 wickets for 3 runs against the MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...

 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. Nobody else bar John Gunn did any serious work, and Gunn took only 25 wickets in seventeen matches in which he bowled.

Wass was chosen in the thirteen for the First Test against South Africa at Lord's in 1907 but left out of the final eleven. In 1908, despite the fact that Hallam declined owing to rheumatism in his right shoulder, Wass remained at his best and took sixteen for 103 in a day against Essex
Essex County Cricket Club
Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games...

. 1909, a summer as wet as 1907, was very disappointing: although Hallam was back to full fitness, Wass had his worst record since 1905, but in the following two years Wass recovered his form and when helped by the wicket remained as formidable as ever despite having lost much of his former pace. the wet summer of 1912 was disappointing with the wickets more helpful than ever: Wass took fifty fewer wickets than in 1907, and in 1913 he failed to reach 100 wickets in a full season for the first time in ten years, taking 98. 1914, when Wass was handicapped by injury and missed seven games, saw him fall further to 69 wickets at his highest average since 1900. After the war he appeared only once, in Joe Hardstaff senior's benefit match. “Topsy” Wass was regarded as a character but was generally popular drawing a remarkably warm tribute from Sir Pelham Warner when he died.

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