William Collins (cricketer, born 1848)

William Edmund Wood Collins (16 June 1848 – 7 January 1932) was a Welsh first-class cricketer and author.

The son of the essayist William Lucas Collins,[2] he was born in Glamorgan at Cheriton in June 1848. Collins was educated at Radley College,[2] before going up to Jesus College, Oxford.[3]

He did not feature in first-class cricket for Oxford University, at a time when the side was dominated by players from Brasenose College.[1] He married Margaret Elizabeth Stepford Sackville in 1882.[2]

He eventually played first-class cricket in 1884, when he played for the Gentlemen of England against Oxford University at Oxford. He played again for the Gentlemen of England in 1886, this time against I Zingari in the Scarborough Festival of 1886.[4] Held in high regard by C. I. Thornton, Collins was invited by him to play for Lord Londesborough's XI against the touring Australians at the festival.[1][4] In the Lord Londesborough's XI first-innings total of 558, Collins came into bat at number eleven, scoring 56 runs.[5] He played again at the 1887 Scarborough Festival in two first-class matches, for the Gentlemen of England against I Zingari and for the South in the North v South fixture.[4] He was invited to play for the Oxford University Past and Present cricket team against the touring Australians at Leyton in 1888,[4] taking figures of 6 for 35 in the Australians first-innings.[1] His final first-class appearance came three years later for H. Philipson's XI against Oxford University.[4] Across seven first-class matches, Collins scored 157 runs at an average of 19.62, while with the ball he took 19 wickets at a bowling average of 23.57.[6]

He played below first-class at county level for Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire and, in one match in 1903, for Shropshire.[7]

Away from playing cricket, Collins was a regular contributor to Blackwood's Magazine and published two works of fiction set in Oxford: The Don and the Undergraduate (1899) and A Scholar of his College (1900).[1][2] Collins died in January 1932 at Summerhill, Heacham, Norfolk.[8] He was described by A. J. Webbe at the time of his death in a letter to The Times as "a very fine left-handed bowler, essentially the man for a hard wicket, as he was very fast off the pitch and came a lot with his arm. Also a great hitter."[1]