David Collins (New Zealand cricketer)

Collins' 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]

• David Collins at ESPNcricinfo