A. E. J. Collins
English cricketer and soldier
Died when: 29 years 85 days (350 months)Star Sign: Leo
Arthur Edward Jeune Collins (18 August 1885 – 11 November 1914) was an English cricketer and soldier.He held, for 116 years, the record of highest score in cricket: as a 13-year-old schoolboy, he scored 628 not out over four afternoons in June 1899.
Collins's record-making innings drew a large crowd and increasing media interest; spectators at the Old Cliftonian match being played nearby were drawn away to watch the junior school house cricket match in which Collins was playing.
Despite this achievement, Collins never played first-class cricket.Collins's 628 not out stood as the record score till January 2016 when an Indian boy, Pranav Dhanawade, scored 1009 in a single innings.
Collins joined the British Army in 1902 and studied at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, before becoming an officer in the Royal Engineers.
He served in France during the First World War, where he was killed in action in 1914 during the First Battle of Ypres.
Collins had been mentioned in despatches and also represented the Royal Military Academy at cricket and rugby union.
