Chris Jordan hoping to play starring role for Sydney Thunder
When he was growing up in Barbados, Chris Jordan went to school with pop princess Rihanna. Now he’s hoping to play the starring role for the Thunder after replacing Jos Buttler and Joe Root.
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If replacing Jos Buttler and Joe Root seems like an impossible act to follow, then the Sydney Thunder might have picked the perfect man in Chris Jordan.
The England T20 specialist is not only regarded as one of the best death bowlers in the game but is also well versed in playing second fiddle.
When he was growing up as a kid in Barbados, one of his classmates was the future pop princess Rihanna.
They went to primary and high school together and while he didn’t know at the time that she was heading to global superstar status, he rarely makes it through an interview on cricket without being quizzed about Rihanna.
“I was waiting for that question,” he told The Sunday Telegraph. “It does come up quite a lot.
“We went to Primary and Secondary school together in Barbados before I left to go to Dulwich College in England and we’ve seen each other a few times since.”
Jordan has had plenty of success of his own on the cricket field and the Thunder are expecting big things for him in his BBL encore.
He previously played for the Adelaide Strikers, but has joined the Thunder as an one of two import replacements, and by coincidence, his first game will be against his old club at Spotless Stadium today.
Jordan has captured more than 100 international wickets in Tests, ODIs and T20s for England, which he qualified to play for through his grandparents, though he focuses mostly on T20 these days.
He was a key member of the England that reach the T20 World Cup final in 2016, which they lost to the West Indies, and has been in high demand ever since.
“I’ve played in so many different places but I never take it for granted because I know how blessed I am to go play in so many amazing places,” he said.
“Cricket’s not rocket science and while everyone does have different views on playing the game, if you stick to your strengths and what you believe in can’t go wrong.”
Jordan has plenty of experience playing in Australia. He toured here with England in 2014, playing both T20s and ODIs, and returned for the 2015 World Cup.
In 2016, he joined the Adelaide Strikers to work under Jason Gillespie, who is now his coach at English county team Sussex.
“Dizzy has been brilliant for us in our first year. He's brought a real calmness to our dressing room and given us a real sense of direction,” Jordan said.
“His views and his philosophy are very simple, it’s not rocket science and guys can relate to that, so he just encourages everyone to go out there every day and try to be consistent and a better cricketer than they were the day before.”
Jordan said part of the reason he came to the Thunder was for the chance to work with another coach he’s always admired, New Zealander Shane Bond.
“Someone with that type of experience and nous is someone I can see adding a lot to my game so I really want to pick his brain because there’s no better person to learn from,” he said.
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