David Charles Collins (1 October 1887 – 2 January 1967) was a New Zealand cricketer. He played 53 first-class matches between 1905–06 and 1926–27, the bulk of these being for Wellington in New Zealand and Cambridge University in England; he won a blue for Cambridge and headed their batting averages in 1910.[1]
 Collins in 1935 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | David Charles Collins | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 1 October 1887 Wellington, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 2 January 1967 (aged 79) Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm medium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Occasional wicket-keeper | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1905/06–1926/27 | Wellington | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1908–1911 | Cambridge University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: CricketArchive, 1 May 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Life and career
editCollins' father William Collins and his uncle John Collins had brief first-class careers. His cousin A. E. J. Collins held the world batting record for 116 years to January 2016 for his innings of 628 not out at Clifton College.[2]
Collins was educated at Wellington College, Wellington, before going on to Trinity College, Cambridge.[3] In 1912 he became the first Cambridge student for more than 40 years to win blues at both cricket and rowing.[4]
After completing his studies at Cambridge, Collins returned to New Zealand, where his most successful cricketing years were with Wellington in the 1920s. During this decade he scored four of his six first-class centuries, including the largest (and his last), 172 against Auckland in the 1924–25 Plunket Shield.[5] He also represented Wairarapa in the Hawke Cup in the 1920s, and was captain and sole selector for the Minor Associations cricket team when it played its only first-class match, against the Australian touring team in March 1921.[6]
Collins represented New Zealand during the MCC tour of 1922–23. In the match at Christchurch he scored 102,[7] while at the Basin Reserve, as captain, he hit a second-innings 69.[8]
Collins married Sybil Abraham in Palmerston North in June 1915.[9] They lived on Collins' sheep station near Featherston in the Wairarapa. They had two sons and three daughters.[10] One of their daughters, Susie Collins, was the New Zealand women's golf champion in the late 1930s.[11]
References
edit- ^ Obituary, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1968, p. 999.
- ^ The Collins Cousins Cricket Story Retrieved 19 December 2014.
- ^ "Notes from London". Evening Post: 2. 16 June 1908.
- ^ "Athletics". Dominion: 4. 4 May 1912.
- ^ "Auckland v Wellington in 1924/25". CricketArchive. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
- ^ "New Zealand Minor Associations v Australians 1920–21". CricketArchive. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
- ^ "New Zealand v Marylebone Cricket Club, Christchurch, 1922/23". CricketArchive. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
- ^ "New Zealand v Marylebone Cricket Club, Wellington, 1922/23". CricketArchive. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
- ^ "Wedding". Feilding Star: 4. 10 June 1915.
- ^ Who's Who in New Zealand and the Western Pacific, Wellington, 1938, p. 102.
- ^ "A Fine Start". Evening Post: 6. 11 November 1938. Retrieved 29 May 2018.