I first met Jordan when we played Cricket together at Beechen Cliff School and at Lansdown Cricket Club. Training against him was a nightmare. I myself being a tall, 6 foot something number 11 ‘batsman’ facing sheer pace, bowled (in my opinion) deliberately short on indoor nets with good bounce coming through at neck height, vastly improved my tolerance to getting hit by a cricket ball! Given his out-and-out pace, it was not long before Jordan started making a name for himself at Lansdown as part of the 1st XI and the local cricketing world. Since those days as school boys, taking on the local private schools, Jordan has had a vast amount of cricket experiences in the West of England, London and down under in Australia both as a player, as captain and as coach.
His first experience of Senior cricket came through opportunities in Lansdown’s 2nd XI on a Saturday afternoon and being told, on more than one occasion, to ‘go win the game’ by Martin Veal. This alongside with the cricket at school and with the Lansdown Academy side challenged Jordan to develop his skill sets in order to compete against those who had played the game for a lot longer and had greater exposure to the ebbs and flows and the match management of Cricket, something he would have to quickly learn.
It was not long before his performances were recognised throughout Combe Park (the home of Lansdown Cricket Club) and he was shortly given a 1st X1 call up. Despite fielding at fine leg and mid-on, and feeling slightly out of his depth, he was delighted to be representing the club on the highest platform. The following season, aged 16, he was given the task of taking the new ball in the 1st X1 at 16, he continued to shine and take wickets with his fast bowling. Jeremy Dean, the New Zealand overseas at the time (who played List A cricket for Wellington), was a big influence to those early days at Lansdown who, along with then captain Ben Staunton and new recruit James Golding (ex-Kent CCC), Jordan was supported through the good and bad times of representing the club on a Saturday afternoon. Perhaps this advice and guidance given to Jordan in the early stages of his career set a precedent for later in his career and return to Combe Park as a senior member.
Following his performances for Lansdown along with the arrival of newly appointed Club Coach, David Simpkins, Jordan was included in the Gloucestershire CC 2nd XI set up for a season and a half (2010 – 2011). Meanwhile, Jordan was playing at Lansdown with other Gloucestershire hopefuls trying to establish themselves with the county; Tom Davies, Craig Miles (Gloucestershire and more recently Warwickshire) and brother Adam Miles (New Zealand Under 19s Assistant Coach).
From Gloucestershire and a winter of cricket in South Africa, Jordan was invited to go to London to trial for the Marylebone Cricket Club Young Cricketers (MCC YC) squad in 2013 by former England and Gloucestershire player, Mark Alleyne. It was here that Jordan feels his cricketing knowledge developed more by picking the brains of Alleyne. The concept of asking the questions to people with experiences like Alleyne allowed Jordan to understand the rationale behind decision making, game management & player management – the science of cricket that many people overlook and which makes a good captain and coach stand out.
Injuries prior to, and during, his time at the MCC YC’s proved problematic with shin splints and the recurring ankle injuries meaning that cricket became a struggle and he started to question whether his goal of making a livelihood from cricket would be possible or instead would have to revert to labouring and doing casual work in between Saturday afternoons on the cricket field. Nevertheless, Jordan spent the consequent winters in Australia and returned to summers of cricket in the UK in to play for various clubs in respective Premier Leagues around the country. During this period he was 12th man for England against Sri-Lanka and also made a cameo (part of which he won’t forget, or rather be allowed to forget) in the Marylebone Cricket Club’s Bicentennial match at Lords in 2014. This saw the greats of cricket taking the field in an MCC XI taking on the Rest of World XI side, watched live by thousands at St Johns Wood and millions around the globe on Sky Sports. Rubbing shoulders with the greats of the game was an overwhelming experience as substitute fielder and Jordan admits it was extremely surreal. Unfortunately, the lasting memory is the dropped catch at deep mid- wicket – he admits it was a shocker - which prevented Saeed Ajmal from dismissing Paul Collingwood and taking a 5-fer in the match and his name on the famous honours board.
Further to his first appearance in-front of a full house at Lords, whilst Jordan was living and playing in Essex, in 2015, he was asked by former acquaintance Mark Alleyne if he was available to be 12th Man for England following on from his prior experience. Clearly, an offer any aspiring cricketer would not turn down, Jordan spent time preparing the national side before and during their tests matches with New Zealand and then in the Ashes against Australia in 2015 – including joining in with the celebrations after England retained the Urn after rain stopped play in the final match of the series at the Oval.
After a short stint at fellow City team, Bath Cricket Club, and a subsequent half of the season in the Yorkshire Premier League, Jordan returned to Combe Park halfway through the 2016 season. Playing when Lansdown were in Tier 3 of the West of the England leagues, under Tom Hankins (Lansdown CC Bath CC, Corsham CC) as captain, Jordan began to offer advice to the younger members of the team. Fast forward to the 2017 season, Jordan was offered the captaincy, an offer that he was humbled by and honoured to be ask, on his return from another winter in Australia.
He, along with Director of Cricket, Shaun Smith, implemented a new approach and philosophy at Combe Park which saw some difficulties from those less keen to adapt. Furthermore, club coach David Simpkins had departed and Jordan took on the role. Added to this, Lansdown had lost important members of the squad, Tom Hankins, Reece Croker, Andy Owen, Chris Day, Jackson Hamilton and the overseas - Anant Tambavekar -could not return, many factors which may explain why Lansdown struggled initially at the beginning of Jordan’s time as captain. In fact the struggle was so serious that they were not relegated from Premier Two due to the West of England restructuring of the 2nd Tier, and subsequently 2 clubs from Premier One were relegated which meant only one side from Lansdown’s league were relegated. In sharp contrast to 2017, the 2018 season saw Lansdown gain promotion to Premier one for the first time since/17 seasons …. Jordan puts this down to the way the squad trained and their mind-set throughout the season building on the nucleus of players already involved at Combe Park. He also noted that new additions, Brandon Allen, Ryan Thorpe & Dom Hooper helped bolster the existing Lansdown squad in their journey to the top flight. More information around Lansdown’s return to the highest stage can be found in a previous blog: From the Garden to Premier One: How?
With Lansdown back at the top of recreational cricketcreational cricket, they faced an even greater challenge than when Jordan first took on captaincy; survival – avoid relegation. The task ahead of the young Lansdown team to stay in the top division was a big one and it was a season of mixed performances which was just enough to keep them up for another season. At Lansdown Cricket Club's AGM in February 2020, Jordan stepped down as captain of the 1st XI and his position has been filled by Oskar Kolk (more information can be found in a previous blog: Oskar Kolk). Jordan was hopeful to have played under Oskar, and offer advice if he was asked, however, this is continuing to look increasingly unlikely as the COVID-19 Pandemic keeps all of us off the Cricket Field.
For Jordan, this poses additional question marks over his future as his plans to emigrate to Australia are now on hold due to international travel restrictions. Perhaps, when the COVID pandemic is over Jordan will be able to start a new life down under with Boisdale-Briagolong Cricket Club, Victoria – 3 hours outside of Melbourne– the side he led to winning the league as player (scoring a valuable half century in the final and taking wickets) and as club coach in 2018/19, a role he took on with the Briag second bottom of the league and having won nothing but the wooden spoon in previous seasons. In this rural outback setting, Jordan will look to continue his cricketing journey with greater emphasis on his coaching. Asking those questions during his time spent alongside those with far superior cricketing knowledge and picking their brains, the likes of Mark Alleyne, Jeremy Dean, David Simpkins but to name a few, Jordan will look to offset this acquired knowledge to those in a similar position to he was when he was first called up to Senior cricket for Lansdown at the start of his cricketing career.
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