[3] He was a useful pace bowler in the early part of his career, whose best figures were 4 for 28 against the touring New Zealanders in 1953–54, but it was his catching and fielding that stood out.
He was selected in a South African XI to play the touring Australians in 1957–58, but was dismissed cheaply twice by Alan Davidson and took only one wicket, that of Neil Harvey for 173.
Dakin was the team's highest scorer, with 452 runs at 45.20,[8] including 104 against Border, when the 16-year-old Graeme Pollock made his first-class debut for Eastern Province, scoring 54.
[9] Dakin's form fell away after 1960–61, apart from one innings in 1962–63 when he made his highest score, 165, against Western Province, putting on 312 for the first wicket with Colin Rushmere.
[11] His son Grant Dakin[12] and grandson Stephen Fensham[13] have also played first-class cricket in South Africa.