A solid and stocky left-hand opening batsman, Terry Duffin is a Mashonaland Districts player who made his name at Plumtree High School. He played for the national Under-19 side in 1998 and 2000 (injured in 1999) and progressed to the CFX Academy in 2001, where he captained the side on his first-class debut. He was posted to the Midlands and played there for three seasons. In 2004-05 he moved to Matabeleland, seeking greater stimulation, and at last began to realise his potential with a good season. He was selected for the team to tour Bangladesh that season, although not playing in an international match, and might well have made his debut against New Zealand the following year were it not for injury. When the dust settled after the bitter player dispute in 2005-06, Duffin was one of the last left standing, and after signing a new contract with the board was appointed to succeed Tatenda Taibu as national captain. Coach Kevin Curran nominated him for the job after noting that he was one of the more mature players who commanded respect from the others. In the Caribbean his limitations as a batsman were exposed, and while he was able to survive, he played a responsible role but showed no signs of being able to score runs at anywhere near the rate needed in ODIs. Even so, it was surprsingly when he was dismissed as captain on the eve of the series against Bangladesh in July 2006.
Steven Price September 2006