The son of Benjamin Collins and his wife Jane, he was born Cobham, Kent.
In the 1881 census, Collins was living at Cobham and was employed, alongside his father, as a gardener.
[1][2] He learnt his cricket at Cobham, where he played under the captaincy of Ivo Bligh, 8th Earl of Darnley.
[4] He took 16 wickets in his eight matches, but his bowling action was considered to have aroused "enough suspicion" that Lord Harris, the dominant figure in Kent cricket at the time, was unwilling to allow Collins to play for the county again.
[5] He was subsequently groundsman at the Bat and Ball Ground, Gravesend and later ran a sports outfitters in the town.