George Collins
Personal information
Full name
George Christopher Collins
Born(1889-09-21)21 September 1889
Gravesend, Kent
Died23 January 1949(1949-01-23) (aged 59)
Rochester, Kent
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingRight arm fast-medium
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1911–1928Kent
1919–1926Marylebone Cricket Club
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 218
Runs scored 6,280
Batting average 22.11
100s/50s 4/33
Top score 110
Balls bowled 18,246
Wickets 379
Bowling average 23.91
5 wickets in innings 24
10 wickets in match 3
Best bowling 10/65
Catches/stumpings 81/1
Source: CricInfo, 16 December 2009

George Christopher Collins (21 September 1889 – 23 January 1949) was an English cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Kent County Cricket Club and Marylebone Cricket Club.[1]

Born in Gravesend, Kent, Collins played at both Gravesend and at Cobham, where his father Christopher had played under the captaincy of Ivo Bligh, 8th Earl of Darnley.[2] His father was subsequently groundsman at the Bat and Ball Ground, Gravesend and later ran a sports outfitters in the town, so it was natural that son should follow father into cricket.[3] He played for junior Kent sides from the age of 16,[3] and made his first-class debut during the 1911 season, in a match against Gloucestershire played in Gravesend.[4]

Described in his Wisden obituary as "a splendid right-arm fast bowler and a useful left-handed batsman",[2] Collins appeared in 218 first-class matches, taking 379 wickets and scoring 6,280 runs.[5] He also occasionally kept wicket, claiming a stumping off the bowling of Tich Freeman in a 1922 fixture against Yorkshire.[6]

His best bowling performance was in 1922, when after taking six wickets in Nottinghamshire's first innings in a match at Dover's Crabble Athletic Ground, he took all ten wickets in their second innings to bowl Kent to an innings victory.[2][7] His match figures of 16 for 83 were the second-best match figures for Kent at the time, and remain to this day the sixth-best in the county's history.[8]

Outside cricket Collins was a bellringer at Milton-next-Gravesend and an article in The Ringing World published on 2 May 1913 described him as "hold[ing] the distinction of being, perhaps, the only first-class cricketer who is a bellringer in this country", a photograph was included with the article. A note on a later page of the same issue stated that former Australian captain, Monty Noble, was also a ringer, and had visited a number of towers in England during his tours.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Carlaw D (2020) Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914 (revised edition), pp. 118–121. (Available online at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 7 August 2022.)
  2. 1 2 3 "Obituaries in 1949". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. 1950. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 "100 Years Ago The Ringing World, 2 May, 1913—Selected by the Editor—Mr. George Collins, County cricketer and bellringer". The Ringing World. 3 May 2013 [2 May 1913]. p. 458. Issue 5323.
  4. ↑ "Kent v Gloucestershire in 1911". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  5. ↑ "George Collins profile". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  6. ↑ "Kent v Yorkshire in 1922". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 December 2009. – Yorkshire's first innings: R Kilner st Collins b Freeman 17.
  7. ↑ "Kent v Nottinghamshire in 1922". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  8. ↑ "Most Wickets in a Match for Kent". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
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