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. 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. In the Lord Londesborough's XI first-innings total of 558, Collins came into bat at number eleven, scoring 56 runs. 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. He was invited to play for the Oxford University Past and Present cricket team against the touring Australians at Leyton in 1888, taking figures of 6 for 35 in the Australians first-innings. His final first-class appearance came three years later for H. Philipson's XI against Oxford University. 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.
