Herbie Collins
Slow left arm orthodox | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Role | All-rounder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Relations | Reginald Collins (brother) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricketArchive, 1 January 2006 |
Herbert Leslie Collins (21 January 1888 – 28 May 1959) was an Australian
Collins was a keen gambler, a pastime that became habitual during his time as a soldier in the
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.
Early career
Collins was born in
He made his
Collins also played first grade
Collins's first full season for NSW was in 1912–1913, playing ten matches and scoring 598 runs at an average of 42.71.
First World War and Services XI
In 1915 Collins was one of 417,000 Australians who enlisted and was a member of the
Following the war he was included in an
On their way home the AIF team played ten matches in South Africa, eight of them first-class, remaining undefeated in this section of the tour. While Jack Gregory relished the conditions, the local newspapers acclaimed Collins as the finest player in the touring team.[11] Collins scored 602 runs in South Africa at an average of 50.58 and took 39 wickets at 16.53.[12][13] In a match at the Old Wanderers ground in Johannesburg against the South African XI, Collins scored 235 from a total of 441 in the first innings as the AIF XI won by 8 wickets.[14]
On arrival back in Australia, the AIF team played three first-class matches, defeating the reigning
Test career
Début
Test cricket returned from its hiatus in 1920 with the
The Australians toured England in 1921, the first representative tour since the disastrous 1912 Triangular Tournament. Collins was included in the squad that would win the series comprehensively, three Tests to nil.[2] In the First Test at Trent Bridge, Collins broke his thumb, ruling him out of the next two internationals. He returned to the team for the Fourth Test, after Australia had already wrapped up the series. England had fought back well and Australia were forced to defend grimly.[2] Batting for over four and a half hours with what Wisden described as "inexhaustible patience", Collins scored 40 runs in Australia's only innings to force a draw.[20][21] Collins scored 1,222 runs in all matches on tour at an average of 33.94.[2]
Captain
On the return trip to Australia, the Australian team stopped in South Africa for a short tour. Due to illness, captain Warwick Armstrong was unable to take part in any of the matches and as a result Collins was appointed captain in his place. The first two Tests were drawn but Australia won the third Test and the series at Cape Town.[22] In the second Test of the series, Collins scored a remarkable double century (203) on the matting pitch at the Old Wanderers ground in Johannesburg, unearthing a range of shots he had rarely used. With Gregory, who scored 119, the pair put on a partnership of 209 in 85 minutes, destroying the South African bowling.[23] In six matches played, Collins scored 548 runs, including two centuries at an average of 60.88.[24]
The next international visitors to Australia were the
The Adelaide Test was a thriller with England needing 27 runs to win the Test with two wickets in hand. Collins, ever the gambler, threw the ball once again to Mailey, who was not known for his accuracy or containment. The gamble paid off with Mailey dismissing Tich Freeman and Gregory removing Gilligan at the other end to win the Test by eleven runs and secure The Ashes. Australia won the series four Tests to one.[2] During the Adelaide Test, Collins was approached by a "well known racing identity" who offered him £100 to throw the match. Collins rejected the approach and suggested to teammate Arthur Mailey that they throw the visitor down the stairs.[27]
Controversy and retirement
The 1926 tour of England would be Collins's last. Partly as a result of a wet English summer, the first four Tests of the five-Test series ended in draws. Collins had a disappointing tour, suffering from neuritis and in constant pain from arthritis. He missed the Third and Fourth Tests when admitted to hospital but recovered to resume his place as captain for the Fifth Test.[2]
The Fifth Test, played at
Such was the disappointment at losing the Ashes, Collins was stripped not only of the New South Wales captaincy but also that of his local club, Waverley.[29] Former players, including his former Waverley captain, the influential Monty Noble, publicly criticised Collins' captaincy. Hunter Hendry, viewing the match from the stands, suspected Collins threw the match. Despite his reputation as a gambler, there is no material evidence that Collins ever fixed the result of any cricket match.[27]
Rugby league career
In the 1911
Outside cricket
Collins was an enthusiastic gambler, renowned by his teammates for finding any reason to bet. Mailey stated that Collins's haunts "were the racetrack, the dog track, a baccarat joint at Kings Cross, a two-up school in the Flanders trenches and anywhere a quiet game of poker was being played."[27] His New South Wales teammate Hal Hooker remarked of Collins:
He would bet on anything—perhaps he was the original of the saying about flies crawling up the window. Waiting on a railway line he would bet on how many trains would pass through the opposite platform, how may carriages would be on the next one, how many carriage windows would be open. In a train he would produce a brass top stamped Put and Take—he paid or collected according to which way it fell when it stopped spinning.[32]
Collins was known for all night poker sessions before going out to open the batting but refused to play against his fellow cricketers, seeing no challenge in taking money from novices.[2] His gambling attracted some criticism and Collins was seen by many, including some cricket administrators, as an inveterate gambler.[27]
He turned his interest in gambling into a career, taking out a bookmakers' licence for a period and he served as a steward at pony races in Sydney. Neither role appealed to him as much as acting as a commission agent for other bookmakers. Collins would "lay-off" for bookmakers over committed on certain horses, placing large bets carefully and with cool calculation.[2] He won and lost two fortunes on the track and at one stage required the assistance of the New South Wales Cricketers Fund to support him and his invalid mother.[27] He re-enlisted in the Australian Army during the Second World War, stationed at Victoria Barracks with the rank of sergeant.[2]
In 1940, Collins, then aged 51, married 24-year-old Marjorie Paine, the daughter of a race steward. The marriage produced a son before ending in divorce eleven years later; a petition served by Collins was not defended by his wife.[33] After his divorce, Collins continued to frequent gambling clubs at Kings Cross, participating in all-night poker sessions. Despite giving up smoking late in life, his lungs failed him and he died of cancer in 1959, aged 70.[2]
Playing style and personality
Collins was short, no more than 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) and slight. As a batsman, he was not an extravagant strokeplayer, preferring to avoid risk and leave balls on a good length where possible.[34] He batted with very little backlift and at first inspection could seem strokeless, scoring only from pushes and prods, nudges and dabs.[2] His patience was renowned with the contemporary cricket writer Ray Robinson remarking "[Collins] had an implacable trench warfare style that in difficult times earned admiration from his own side, put bowlers on the road to exasperation and sent onlookers through the doors of bars."[34] His one bold shot was an over-the-shoulder hook shot, finishing standing on his right foot, his left foot six inches in the air. Deficient in driving power, bowlers learnt to lessen his scoring power by pitching the ball well up.[34] He often batted without the protection of gloves, especially on easy pitches.[34]
Collins bowled his
Popular with his men, Collins was respected for his faith in his teammates and his ability to relate to different personalities. The Test leg-spinner, Arthur Mailey noted, "I learnt more of the psychology of cricket from Collins from all the hundreds of cricketers I met."[36] Bert Oldfield said of Collins, "He studied every player's temperament and acted accordingly."[36] Collins was undemonstrative, expecting his fieldsmen to look at him every after every delivery and adjust their position in response to his slight hand movements or even a bent finger. He was last to shower at the end of a day's play, preferring to sit in a corner in silence. His teammates assumed that he was contemplating the day's action and pondering on the next day's possibilities.[36] He was a successful Test captain, leading Australia to five wins and two losses; four matches finished in draws.[37]
Many
Notes
- ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Pollard, p. 294–296.
- ^ "South Australia v New South Wales: Sheffield Shield 1909/10". CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
- ^ "Rugby League Final". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australia. 18 September 1911. p. 4. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2009.
- ^ "Queensland Representative Players". qrl.com.au. Queensland Rugby League. Archived from the original on 1 December 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
- ^ a b "First-class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Herbie Collins". CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
- ^ "Tasmania v New South Wales: Other First-Class matches 1912/13". CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
- ^ a b Robinson, p. 148.
- ^ "First-class Batting and Fielding for Australian Imperial Forces: Australian Imperial Forces in England 1919". CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
- ^ "First-class Bowling for Australian Imperial Forces: Australian Imperial Forces in England 1919". CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
- ^ a b Pollard, pp. 932–933.
- ^ "First-class Batting and Fielding for Australian Imperial Forces: Australian Imperial Forces in South Africa 1919/20". CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 December 2007.
- ^ "First-class Bowling for Australian Imperial Forces: Australian Imperial Forces in South Africa 1919/20". CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 December 2007.
- ^ "South Africa v Australian Imperial Forces: Australian Imperial Forces in South Africa 1919/20". CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 December 2007.
- ^ Haigh, pp. 270, 284.
- ^ "Australia v England: Marylebone Cricket Club in Australia 1920/21 (1st Test)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 December 2007.
- ^ "Hundred on debut". Cricinfo. Retrieved 28 December 2007.
- ^ "Australia v England: Marylebone Cricket Club in Australia 1920/21 (3rd Test)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 December 2007.
- ^ "Test Batting and Fielding for Australia: Marylebone Cricket Club in Australia 1920/21". CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 December 2007.
- ^ "England v Australia: Australia in England 1921 (4th Test)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
- ^ Pardon, Sydney (1922). "The Australians in England, 1921". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack – Online archive. John Wisden & Co. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
- ^ "The Australian team in South Africa, 1921–22". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack – Online archive. John Wisden & Co. 1922. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
- ^ Robinson, p. 150.
- ^ "First-class Batting and Fielding for Australians: Australia in South Africa 1921/22". CricketArchive. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
- ^ "Australia v England: Marylebone Cricket Club in Australia 1924/25 (1st Test)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
- ^ a b Robinson, p. 151.
- ^ a b c d e f g Perry, pp. 126–131.
- ^ a b "Fifth Test match: England v Australia 1926". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack – Online archive. John Wisden & Co. 1927. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
- ^ Harte (1993), pp 300–301.
- ^ Whiticker, p. 95.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 January 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Robinson, p. 153.
- ^ Robinson, p. 154.
- ^ a b c d Robinson, pp. 149–150.
- ^ Robinson, p. 147.
- ^ a b c d e Robinson, p. 152.
- ^ "HL Collins: Test matches – All-round analysis". Cricinfo. Retrieved 14 January 2008.
References
- ISBN 1-877008-84-2.
- Harte, Chris (2003), The Penguin History of Australian Cricket. Melbourne. Penguin. ISBN 0-670-04133-5.
- 200 Seasons Of Australian Cricket.Sydney. Ironbark. ISBN 0-330-36034-5
- Perry, Roland (2000). Captain Australia: A History of the Celebrated Captains of Australian Test Cricket. Sydney. Random House. ISBN 1-74051-174-3.
- ISBN 0-207-15269-1.
- Robinson, Ray; Haigh, Gideon (1996). On Top Down Under: Australia's Cricket Captains (revised ed.). Adelaide: Wakefield Press. ISBN 1-86254-387-9.
- Whiticker, Alan, Hudson, Glen (2007). The Encyclopedia Of Rugby League Players. (6th ed.) NSW. ISBN 978-1-877082-93-1
External links