In the eyes of many, Eifion Jones was the best of a group of top-class wicket-keepers who played for Glamorgan during the last four decades of the 20th century. A tally of 1,233 victims in all 1st XI matches strongly supports this view.
Eifion had followed his elder brother Alan onto the Glamorgan staff at the start of the 1960`s . He joined as a specialist right-handed batsman, but with coaching from Phil Clift, Eifion developed his skills as a wicket-keeper, and he duly became the regular gloveman from 1968 until 1982.
Eifion rarely dropped a chance standing up or back, and his almost faultless displays for the Welsh county almost won him a place on England`s Ashes tour in 1970/71. During the previous summer, the stocky wicket-keeper had claimed more victims than anyone else in the country. His 74 dismissals came Glamorgan won the County Championship for the second time in their history, and like others from the Welsh county, Eifion narrowly missed out on selection for the winter tour. He also missed out being on the field when the title was won at Sophia Gardens, as the doughty gloveman had been hit on the head whilst batting and was sat on the pavilion balcony as Majid Khan deputized behind the stumps.
In 1970 Eifion established a new Club record by taking 94 victims in first-class cricket besides making seven dismissals in an innings against Cambridge University at Cambridge. In 1968 he had also posted the highest score by a specialist wicket-keeper for the Welsh county, making 146* against Sussex at Hove, and sharing a partnership of 230 with his brother for the third wicket. Eifion also holds the record for the most number of appearances for Glamorgan in the Sunday League, playing on 212 occasions between 1969 and 1983.
JONES, Eifion Wyn
Born – Velindre, 25th June 1942.
Best performances for Glamorgan:
In first-class cricket – 146* v Sussex at Hove, 1968.
In List A cricket – 67* v Hertfordshire at Swansea, 1969.
| M | I | NO | RUNS | AV | 100 | 50 | CT | ST | |
| First-class | 405 | 591 | 119 | 8341 | 17.67 | 3 | 26 | 840 | 93 |
| List A | 295 | 227 | 66 | 2241 | 13.91 | – | 1 | 257 | 43 |
| Balls | M | R | W | AV | 5wI | 10wM | |
| First-class | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | – | – |
| List A | 12 | 1 | 10 | 0 | – | – | – |