Sidney Wace

{{short description|English cricketer and soldier}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}

{{Infobox cricketer

| name = Sidney Wace

| image =

| country = England

| fullname = Sidney Laurie Wace

| birth_date = 1 March 1882

| birth_place = Kalutara, Western Province,
British Ceylon

| death_date = {{death date and age|1966|4|13|1882|3|1|df=yes}}

| death_place = Midhurst, Sussex, England

| nickname =

| family =

| batting = Unknown

| bowling = Unknown

| role =

| club1 = Europeans

| year1 = 1926/27

| columns = 1

| column1 = First-class

| matches1 = 1

| runs1 = 21

| bat avg1 = 21.00

| 100s/50s1 = –/–

| top score1 = 21

| deliveries1 = 18

| wickets1 = 1

| bowl avg1 = 25.00

| fivefor1 = –

| tenfor1 = –

| best bowling1 = 1/25

| catches/stumpings1 = –/–

| date = 1 December

| year = 2023

| source = https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/sidney-wace-35946 Cricinfo

}}

Sidney Laurie Wace (1 March 1882 – 13 April 1966) was an English first-class cricketer and an officer in both the British Army and the British Indian Army.

The son of Herbert Wace, he was born in British Ceylon at Kalutara in March 1882. He was educated in England at Bradfield College, where he played for the cricket eleven.{{cite book|title=The Bradfield College Register|date=1935|page=171|edition=7|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.544161/page/150/|language=en}} From there, he went up to the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, graduating as a second lieutenant into the Royal Engineers in August 1900,{{London Gazette|issue=27222|date=21 August 1900|page=5174}} with promotion to lieutenant following in July 1903.{{London Gazette|issue=27605|date=13 October 1903|page=6224}} He transferred to the British Indian Army in October 1903, joining the 26th Light Cavalry.{{London Gazette|issue=27663|date=1 April 1904|page=2118}} A further promotion to captain followed in August 1909,{{London Gazette|issue=28304|date=5 November 1909|page=8110}} with Wace serving in the First World War, during which he was made a temporary major in August 1916.{{London Gazette|issue=29844|date=1 December 1916|page=11744}} He gained the full rank of major in September 1917,{{London Gazette|issue=30011|date=6 April 1917|page=3339}} whilst after the war he was made a brevet lieutenant colonel in February 1919, while commanding the East Anglian Division train;{{London Gazette|issue=31341|date=13 May 1919|page=6104|supp=y}}{{London Gazette|issue=31370|date=30 May 1919|page=6819}} he relinquished this rank in August 1919, when his command ceased.{{London Gazette|issue=31771|date=6 February 1920|page=1654|supp=y}}

Wace transferred to the 3rd (Lahore) Division in August 1919, where he commanded the divisional train and was permitted to retain the rank of brevet lieutenant colonel;{{London Gazette|issue=33010|date=9 January 1925|page=222}} he gained the rank of lieutenant colonel in full in August 1926.{{London Gazette|issue=33207|date=1 October 1926|page=6297}} In November of the same year, he made a single appearance in first-class cricket for the Europeans cricket team against the touring Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Rawalpindi.{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/14/14815/First-Class_Matches.html|title=First-Class Matches played by Sidney Wace|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=1 December 2023|url-access=subscription}} Opening the batting in the Europeans first innings, he was dismissed for 21 runs by Arthur Gilligan, while in their second innings he was batting at number four, but was not required to bat. With the ball, he took the wicket of Maurice Tate in the MCC first innings.{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/12/12126.html|title=Europeans v Marylebone Cricket Club, Marylebone Cricket Club in India and Ceylon 1926/27|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=1 December 2023|url-access=subscription}} In the British Indian Army, he was promoted to colonel in October 1930.{{London Gazette|issue=33680|date=13 January 1931|page=304}} He was mentioned in dispatches whilst a quartermaster general in Waziristan during the Afridi Redshirt Rebellion of 1930–1931.{{London Gazette|issue=33749|date=1 September 1931|page=5691}} He retired from active service in October 1934.{{London Gazette|issue=34099|date=26 October 1934|page=6790}} Wace resided in Liphook in Hampshire during his retirement, and died across the county border in Midhurst in April 1966.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}