Jeff Dujon has had the honour of keeping wicket to some of the fastest, most fearsome bowlers the game has ever seen. As West Indies’ seemingly never-ending conveyor belt of fast bowlers came and went during the 1980s, Dujon was the constant behind the stumps.
No statistic embodies Dujon’s contribution to West Indies’ greatest era than the fact that he never played in a losing series. 19 series, 14 wins and five draws across a ten year period. The kind of dominance we will likely never see again from an individual or a team in the Test arena.
With the gloves, Dujon was among the best there has ever been. His tally of 270 dismissals was bettered only by Rod Marsh at the time of his retirement; even more remarkable when one considers that only five of those were stumpings, owing to West Indies’ preference for quick bowlers.
He was nimble and light on his feet, and possessed an athleticism that allowed him to pluck catches that others would not have got anywhere near. That footwork helped his batting as well, and five Test hundreds alongside an average of 31.64 point to a more than capable batsman in an era when the same could not be said for all wicket-keepers.
Dujon retired from cricket in 1992 and had a spell as the assistant coach of the West Indies team in the early 2000s. Since then, he has been a regular presence in the commentary box, where his dry wit and unmistakeable tone continue to embellish the game for the next generation of cricket fans.
1956-05-28, Kingston
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