Left-handed opening batsman and Zimbabwe’s cricket captain in 2006, Terrence Duffin, has retired from first-class cricket at the age of 30.  His final match, this past week, was for Matabeleland Tuskers against Mountaineers at Mutare.

Dufffin said he had reached the point where he needed a year-round job, whereas franchise players in Zimbabwe are on seven-month contracts which cover the playing season. He has signed on for JRG Contracting, an engineering company in Bulawayo, where he will start an apprenticeship.

In 74 first-class matches, Duffin scored 3 772 runs at an average of 29.70, the highest of his four centuries being 193 against Southern Rocks at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo in 2010/11. 

Educated at Plumtree School, Duffin began his career with the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy in 2000/01, from where he was posted to Midlands, and then moved to Matabeleland in 2004/05.

He played two Test matches and 23 one-day internationals for Zimbabwe in 2005/06 and 2006/07, and captained the national side for several months in 2006. 

He scored four fifties, but his success was only moderate and his scoring rate was felt to be too slow for one-day cricket.

The Matabeleland Tuskers coach Heath Streak said Duffin will be missed as much for what he gave off the field as well as on it – helping and mentoring young players.  He said it was sad that Duffin was retiring just as he was reaching what should have been the prime years of his batting career. 

Duffin has an affable personality and Heath emphasised that he was a fine example to the entire team, as nobody worked harder at his game and he was totally reliable in all he did.  He pointed out that Duffin may not have had as much natural ability as some, but nobody put in more effort to make the most of what he had.

Duffin expressed his gratitude to all who had put hard work into helping him with his career, most notably his coach David Houghton, and to his family and friends for all their support.