Samuel Moses James Woods (13 April 1867 – 30 April 1931) was an Australian sportsman who represented both Australia and England at Test cricket, and appeared thirteen times for England at rugby union, including five times as captain. He also played at county level in England at both soccer and hockey. At cricket—his primary sport—he played over four hundred first-class matches in a twenty-four-year career. The majority of these matches were for his county side, Somerset, whom he captained from 1894 to 1906. A. A. Thomson described him thus: "Sammy ... radiated such elemental force in hard hitting, fast bowling and electrical fielding that he might have been the forerunner of Sir Learie Constantine."A. A. Thomson, Cricketers of My Time, 1967, p. 160.
Having moved to England at the age of sixteen to complete his education, Woods became entrenched in English sport. Having already played cricket and rugby growing up in Australia, at Brighton College he began playing soccer, and while still at the college, represented Sussex at the sport. Woods was also part of a strong cricket team at the college; in the 23 matches he played for them, only two were lost. He made his first-class cricket debut shortly after leaving Brighton College, in August 1886, playing for GN Wyatt's XI against the touring Australians. Later in the same month he made his first appearance for Somerset, a second-class match against Warwickshire. At Cambridge University he achieved blues in both cricket and rugby.
Woods played the first three of his six Test cricket matches during his first year at Cambridge, called up to the Australian squad to face England in 1888 after Sammy Jones contracted smallpox. During this early part of his career, Woods was considered among the finest bowlers in England, and was named as one of the 'Six Great Bowlers of the Year' (later to form the inaugural Wisden Cricketers of the Year) in 1889. He twice claimed in excess of a hundred first-class wickets in an English season, and averaged under twenty in five consecutive seasons from 1888. In an 1890 match for Cambridge University, Woods claimed all ten of the opposition's wickets in the second-innings. However, by the time he was selected as part of the England Test squad to tour South Africa in 1895–96, his bowling was beginning to lose its potency. Additionally curtailed by injuries, Woods claimed five wickets on the tour, thirty less than the leading wicket-taker George Lohmann.
While his bowling worsened, his batting improved; in 133 first-class matches up to the end of 1894, Woods scored one century, while in his next 129 matches he passed a hundred on fourteen occasions. Primarily an aggressive batsman, Woods had fast footwork and was capable of powerful strokes all around the ground, though he favoured the square cut. His twelve-year Somerset captaincy is the longest at the county. He was an attacking captain, once observing: "Draws? They're only for bathing in.""The story of Somerset" – Wisden article with much on Woods Retrieved 20 May 2011 He also served the club as secretary from 1920 to 1922.
Growing up in Australia Samuel Moses James, or Sammy as he commonly came to be known, was born to John Woods and Margaret Ewing on 13 April 1867. His parents, both born and raised in Ireland, had emigrated to Australia in 1853 shortly after their wedding. At the time of their wedding, John Woods was described as a 'labourer', but by the birth of Samuel Woods, he was listed as a 'gentleman', having carried out various contracts in the development of Sydney, and served as the city's mayor for a term in 1865.Jiggens (1997), pp8–9. Sammy Woods was one of five boys all of whom were athletic, and at the age of ten he played a match for an under-16s team captained by one of his elder brothers. A boy short for the match, Sammy was enlisted; he scored a few runs in each innings and claimed three wickets, and was afterwards presented with a cap by his brother, which he later claimed to prize more than even his international caps. Woods was educated at Royston College and Sydney Grammar School, and while at Royston once claimed seven wickets in seven balls. One school season, he claimed seventy wickets at an average of five runs.Jiggens (1997), pp9–11.
Woods often missed school to watch cricket, and recounts that on more than one occasion he "got a jolly good caning".Jiggens (1997), p13. On one such occasion when he was 14, during the English tour of Australia of 1881–82, after buying a couple of the England team drinks, he bowled at George Ulyett in the nets. He played a number of matches for the Manly cricket club, taking part in challenge matches which on occasion included famous cricketers of the day such as Fred Spofforth and Billy Murdoch.Jiggens (1997), pp12–14.
Education in England
Brighton College
When he was aged 16, Woods' father decided to send him and his younger brother, Harris, to complete their education in England. Both boys were sent to Silwood House in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, a preparatory school. While at the school, Woods played for the town cricket club, and by the end of the season he was seventh in the published batting averages, with a top-score of 42 not out. He joined Brighton College in August 1884, and after playing a couple of cricket matches, the weather turned and the football season began. For Woods, whose Australian upbringing had consisted of cricket in the summer and rugby in the winter, the realisation that 'soccer' was played at the school was one made with some dismay. After only a few weeks though, he was playing in goal for both the school and the Sussex county football team.Jiggens (1997), p19.
His newly discovered prowess at soccer did not detract from his cricketing skills. The two summers in which Woods played for Brighton College were strong ones for the school, of the 23 matches they played, only 2 were lost. Alongside the Woods brothers were a number of other players who would go on to appear in county cricket; George Cotterill and George Wilson both played for Sussex, while Leslie Gay made one Test appearance for England in addition to representing Hampshire and Somerset. Woods topped the bowling averages in both his years at the school; in the first he claimed 59 wickets at an average just over eight, figures which he improved upon during his second year when he took 78 wickets at an average of 7.3. His college reports commented much more favourably on his sporting achievements than his academic ones, praising his batting, bowling and fielding alike.Jiggens (1997), pp19–20.
The highlight of Woods' time at Brighton College was during a schools match against Lancing College. Playing away from home at the West Sussex school, Woods claimed 8 wickets for 17 in the first-innings, with all his victims being bowled, and followed this with 6 for 10 in the second-innings, five of the wickets bowled, and the other caught and bowled. On another occasion playing for the College's first eleven, Woods hit the stumps eight times in eight balls, but only claimed three wickets. After three successive no-balls hit, he bowled an opponent with the fourth ball (the first legal ball of the over), hit the leg stump without dislodging a bail with the fifth, took successive wickets with the sixth and seventh, and then once again hit the stumps without disturbing the bails with the eighth.Jiggens (1997), p20. This was not the only time on which Woods hit the stumps without removing the bails: in an interview a few years later, he recalls a match against Dulwich College in which he "[hit] the leg stump – and [hit] it hard – three times in one over, without knocking the bails off", each ball then went for four byes.Jiggens (1997), p21.
During his time at the college, Woods developed a slower ball after watching George Lohmann bowling against Sussex. Woods claimed that after practising the delivery for hours, he took a wicket with the first one he ever bowled, dismissing GG Hearne caught and bowled in a match against the Marylebone Cricket Club and Ground. Woods left Brighton College in 1886, aged 19, and shortly after, in August of the same year, he made his first-class cricket debut. Playing for GN Wyatt's XI against the touring Australians, Woods opened the bowling in both innings for the English side which was termed a 'South of England XI'. Woods made scores of 21 and 11 with the bat, and took 2/45 and 0/40 bowling. He claimed that he strained his side trying to bowl too fast, and would have done better otherwise.Jiggens (1997), pp21–22.
Somerset: Learning business habits After completing his time at Brighton College, Woods moved to Bridgwater where a friend of his father's helped to find him a job as a bank clerk. Woods reflected in his reminiscences that his father wanted him to "learn business habits" before he went to university. He soon became a key figure in the town's sport, playing for both the cricket and rugby teams. His performances on the cricket field drew the attention of the county club, and late during the 1886 season, Woods made his first appearance for Somerset County Cricket Club. Somerset were not at the time a first-class county, and Woods travelled up to Edgbaston, Birmingham to play Warwickshire, who similarly lacked first-class status. He failed in both batting innings, collecting a pair, but claimed twelve wickets; 7/23 in the first-innings and 5/34 in the second. His performance was praised in the Somerset County Gazette and in the Sussex Daily News; the latter publication noting that many had "anticipated or hoped that he would ultimately render good service to Sussex."Jiggens (1997), pp23–25.
He continued to play for Somerset in 1887, generally batting as part of the lower order. He collected ten wickets against the Marylebone Cricket Club during this time. His work experience at the bank ended when an inspector noticed that the books were not balancing; which Woods was happy to explain was due to him taking a sovereign from time to time to buy stamps. After losing this job, he paid a surveyor to teach him the trade, but after an afternoon of the training, his teacher ran off with the money and soon committed suicide, bringing that to a halt.Jiggens (1997), pp25–26.
Cambridge University
First year
Woods entered Jesus College, Cambridge in 1888 and soon became a vibrant part of the social community. He joined port wine and oyster clubs, (known as Rhadegund and the Natives respectively) and played both cricket and rugby during his time at the university. He had also applied to Oxford University, who had turned him down, not realising his sporting abilities.Jiggens (1997), pp30–31. He made his debut for the university at Fenner's in May 1888, claiming his first five-wicket haul in first-class cricket when he bowled four members of CI Thornton's XI, and had another one caught. Despite his wickets, he was relatively expensive, and the visiting side beat Cambridge easily. A week later, Woods improved on his performance against a 'Gentlemen of England' side which was also captained by Thornton, and claimed seven wickets in the first innings and another five in the second innings, top-scoring with the bat for Cambridge in-between, to help the university to a six wicket victory. This match also saw Woods take the only first-class hat-trick of his career.Jiggens (1997), p33.