Jordan just off the pace
ENGLAND are moving increasingly closer to picking a Barbadosborn fast bowler for their World Cup squad – but it will not be Chris Jordan.
The 30-year-old all-rounder has played in every format for his adopted country over the past six years. Yet with the biggest tournament in the sport coming into view, his hopes of gracing a World Cup appear dead in the water.
While his friend and Sussex team-mate Jofra Archer continues to be England’s biggest selection dilemma,
Jordan will feed off T20 scraps in the hope he might again be considered in the 50-over game.
It is quite something for a player who has been selected in every England T20 match for more than a year to not be part of the 50-over conversation.
Jordan has been overtaken by Tom and Sam Curran, Olly Stone and even Craig Overton, who have all made their ODI debuts since he last played.
And yet it is precisely the skills Jordan possesses that are most in demand where England’s 50-over side are concerned. His ability to close out the death overs of a T20 innings are second to none, boasting a formidable yorker, but the selectors are unconvinced he can translate that ability to ODI cricket.
These are the same selectors who pick Jos Buttler for Test cricket based on his Indian Premier League T20 form, and who are preparing to parachute Archer into the World Cup squad at the eleventh hour based on T20 displays around the world.
“We did talk about Chris and he played for the Lions last summer,” said national selector Ed Smith. “He was the outstanding seam bowler in that tournament with India A and West Indies A.
“That was something we used to mark things with him and to say that we didn’t want him to drift completely out of 50-over contention.
“But he’s typically been viewed as a T20 death specialist. We don’t want to pigeonhole people but that has been the thing he has brought to the table.
“I don’t think we’ve missed anything with him, but the jobs are slightly different – bowling four overs with two or three of them near the back end. That is a slightly different balance over the course of a 50-over game.”
With just 14 List A games under his belt but 81 T20 matches, the 23-year-old Archer is still on course to be a late addition to England’s World Cup plans without ever playing an international match. His point of difference is the pace he can generate and an easy approach at the crease, which appeals to skipper Eoin Morgan.
And with Mark Wood showing how important pace can be in the ODI series against the West Indies, both David Willey and Tom Curran will be under pressure.
Morgan said: “These bowlers are the best we have at the moment. I’ve played against Jofra quite a lot and the attention he brings where he goes is because he puts in big performances. When he becomes available it is a conversation we will need to have with the selectors.
“We ask the simple question, how do we make our squad better to try and win the World Cup? Ed Smith will have the final call, but Trevor Bayliss and I will give our opinion on the mood in the camp and our preference.
“Ninety-mile an hour bowlers are hard to come by. But they are very valuable when they come around.”