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SN streams down, restoring ASAPAlex Chapman: Duffy's 5fer shows patience pays off
Alex Chapman • December 4th, 2025 9:10 am
Jacob Duffy celebrates his five-wicket haul against the West Indies at Hagley Oval | Photo: Andrew Cornaga/Photosport
Jacob Duffy’s performance on day two of the first Test between the Blackcaps and the West Indies is the epitome of the old saying that patience is a virtue.
The 31-year-old's debut for Otago came in January 2012 – almost 14 years ago.
A month later he made his first class debut and a year after that he played his first List A game.
He’s since run out for 368 games at the level below internationals, both here and around the world.
This is just his second Test, after being given his black cap in Zimbabwe in August. He made his T20 debut more than five years ago and in ODIs in 2022.
You can bet that there would’ve been fewer people more chuffed to see him awkwardly walk off the field last night with the ball raised after his maiden test five-wicket haul than the current Blackcaps coach.
Despite making his Otago debut at 17, Duffy’s journey has been long. It hasn’t been easy.
A few seasons after first running out for the Volts, he was the leading wicket taker in the Plunket Shield and called into the Blackcaps test squad for a tour of England in 2015.
But within two years, his form had faltered and then-Otago coach Rob Walter challenged Duffy to sit out the rest of the season and work on his action. He gained extra pace, strengthened his ability to hit the seam and swing the ball, and avoid injury.
Duffy takes Smithy's advice to seal five-wicket bag | Sport Nation Cricket
He is the best example of patience prospering and a domestic system that allows and affords the time for players to learn their craft.
Usually, in trades, apprenticeships are three, maybe four years, but Duffy’s has, for whatever reason taken longer.
He didn’t just learn how to be a builder, he planted trees, waited for them to grow, cut ‘em down, shaped and treated the wood, and then built a house.
And at 31, he’s now living in it.
The French playwright Moliere wrote that trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.
And if yesterday is anything to go by, Jacob Duffy can probably feed all of his home town of Lumsden with plenty of fresh fruit.
Tune into The Opening Stand with Alex Chapman - 9am on Sport Nation ahead of each day's play during the Blackcaps vs West Indies Test series.
