Collins George Image 1 Kent 1921

Description

Gravesend, Kent born all-rounder George Collins played at both Gravesend and at Cobham, where his father Christopher had played under the captaincy of Ivo Bligh, 8th Earl of Darnley. 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. He played for junior Kent sides from the age of 16, and made his first class debut for Kent during the 1911 season, in a match against Gloucestershire played in Gravesend.

Described in his Wisden obituary as “a splendid right-arm fast bowler and a useful left-handed batsman”, Collins appeared in 218 first class matches, taking 379 wickets at 23.91 apiece and scoring 6,280 runs at an average of 22.11 with four centuries and 33 half centuries. He also occasionally kept wicket, claiming a stumping off the bowling of Tich Freeman in a 1922 fixture against Yorkshire in addition to taking 81 catches.

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. His match figures of 16-83 were the second best match figures for Kent at the time behind former team mate Charlie Blythe, and remain to this day the sixth best in the County’s history. He twice bowled other ten wicket matches and took five wickets in an innings on 24 occasions. He played for Kent until 1928 and also represented Marylebone Cricket Club (M.C.C.) on several occasions between 1919 and 1926.

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.

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