A.E.J. Collins (left) and R.P. Keigwin, who survived the war and played 74 first-class matches for Cambridge, Essex and the MCC.
I feel I can’t write this book without including one cricketer who, although he made the supreme sacrifice, failed to play in a firstclass match. He did, however, make an extraordinary contribution to the game. His name was Arthur Edward Jeune ‘James’ Collins (although normally referred to as A.E.J. Collins), born on 18 August 1885 at Hazaribagh in India, the son of Arthur Herbert Collins, a judge in the Indian Civil Service, and Mrs Esther Ida Collins. He went to Clifton College Bristol in 1897, becoming a member of Clark’s House and later North Town House. Clifton had an excellent reputation for sport. The legendary W. G. Grace scored thirteen first-class centuries on the Close (Clifton’s first XI ground) and was so impressed by the school that he sent his sons there. As well as playing in the first XI, he also represented the school at rugby and boxing, winning the bronze medal at the public schools’ tournament held at Aldershot in 1901. In June 1899, as a 13-year-old schoolboy, Collins made the highest-ever recorded cricket score of 628 not out. This feat took place during a junior schoolhouse cricket match between Clarke’s House and North Town House. These matches were timeless, played to a finish, however long it took. The match was played on an outfield off Guthrie Road, Bristol, now named Collin’s Piece. Although many cricketers have scored into the 500s, no one has ever bettered his score. Tim Rice wrote of him in an article for the Daily Telegraph on 9 June 1999 to celebrate the centenary of the score, entitled ‘On the seventh day A.E.J. Collins rested’.
He was an orphan whose guardians lived in Tavistock, Devon. He was a reserved boy, short and stockily built, fair-haired and pale. He was remembered by contemporaries as one who led by example, rather than by inspiration, although paradoxically he was regarded as likely to fall short of the highest standards as a cricketer because of his recklessness at the crease.
After leaving school in 1902 he joined the British Army, being trained at the Royal Military Academy Woolwich and commissioned in the Royal Engineers. He was sent to France where, on 11 November 1914 at the First Battle of Ypres, while serving as a captain with 5 Field Company Royal Engineers, he was killed in action. He was 29 years old. He was signaling for more men to protect the flank of his trench when he was wounded; he was dragged back into the trench but died shortly after. Although he was buried with military ceremony, due to the continual fighting over this area for the next four years, his grave was lost and his name is recorded at the Menin Gate Memorial in Belgium, panel 9. He was also Mentioned in Despatches for his bravery. His younger brother, Herbert, a lieutenant in the 24th Battalion Manchester Regiment, also an old Cliftonian, was killed in action on 11 February 1917, aged 27.