Herbie Collins

Herbie Collins

Personal information
Full name	Herbert Leslie Collins
Born	(1888-01-21)21 January 1888 Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia
Died	28 May 1959(1959-05-28) (aged 71) Little Bay, New South Wales, Australia
Height	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Slow left arm orthodox
Role	All-rounder
Relations	Reginald Collins (brother)
International information
National side	Australia
Test debut (cap 106)	17 December 1920 v England
Last Test	14 August 1926 v England
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1909/10–1925/26	New South Wales
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class Matches 19 168 Runs scored 1,352 9,924 Batting average 45.06 40.01 100s/50s 4/6 32/40 Top score 203 282 Balls bowled 654 9,987 Wickets 4 181 Bowling average 63.00 21.38 5 wickets in innings 0 8 10 wickets in match 0 2 Best bowling 2/47 8/31 Catches/stumpings 13/– 113/–
Source: CricketArchive, 1 January 2006

Herbert Leslie Collins (21 January 1888 – 28 May 1959) was an Australian cricketer who played 19 Test matches between 1921 and 1926.^[1] An all-rounder, he captained the Australian team in eleven Tests, winning five, losing two with another four finishing in draws. In a Test career delayed by First World War he scored 1,352 runs at an average of 45.06, including four centuries. Collins was also a successful rugby league footballer, winning the 1911 NSWRFL season's grand final with the Eastern Suburbs club.

Collins was a keen gambler, a pastime that became habitual during his time as a soldier in the Great War. After the war, he played with the Australian Imperial Forces cricket team (AIF XI) that toured England, South Africa and Australia and was later appointed captain of the team. He was not a stylish or forceful batsman, preferring to rely on nudges and deflections to score runs. His slow left arm off-spin, bowled from a two step run up, was seldom seen after the AIF XI tour. On return to Australia, he made his Test début against England at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) scoring 104 in the second innings; the fifth Australian to score a century on Test début. He was appointed captain of the Australian team in 1921 in South Africa, when the previous captain, Warwick Armstrong, fell ill.

His Test career finished in disappointment and in a cloud of suspicion when Australia lost the Fifth Test and the Ashes against England in 1926. While some former players and cricket administrators suspected a case of match fixing, no material evidence supporting this has emerged. After his retirement from cricket, Collins used his gambling knowledge to start a career in horse racing, working as a bookmaker and commission agent.