England's Chris Jordan is eager to play more international cricket alongside friend Jofra Archer after their reunion with victory in the first T20I against Australia.
The barely believable turnaround in Southampton that resulted in a two-run win for England had the two Sussex quicks playing their part. It was only the second occasion where Jordan and Archer played together.
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Both share their origins in Barbados and have a bond that goes beyond the field. Jordan presented Archer with his first Test cap last year against Australia. The favour was returned this Friday for what was Jordan's 50th T20I for England.
"The first was his T20 debut in Cardiff (against Pakistan in 2019) and this was the second, so hopefully plenty more to come," Jordan told a conference call ahead of the second T20I on Sunday (September 6).
"Jofra said some very kind words, he just talked about how I am around the group, what I bring to the table and how I encouraged him to do as well."
"It was quite short but very spot on and one of those things that will last in my memory. Nice of him to return the favour."
While doing the honours before Archer's much-anticipated Ashes Test debut, Jordan said he made the cricketer aware that it won't be a smooth ride all the time.
And that it hasn't been. Every Archer failure is pronounced as a disapproval of the hype about him and his off-field controversies, including the recent breach of England's bio-secure bubble, are stretched quite some length. Many forget he is still a youngster finding his feet at the international level.
"One of the things I told him when I gave him his cap was that at the minute he was on a high but he will experience some low periods," said Jordan.
"But because of the character he has, he will always find a way of coming through it. The biggest thing for me last night was the amount of times Jofra was smiling. He really looked like he was enjoying himself out there. I started to tease him when he touched 92 mph whether he could touch 95."
Jordan said it was nice to have the spotlight on English bowlers for once after a result born purely out of their belief in the face of adversity. Australia once required 39 off 36 deliveries with nine wickets still intact. Yet, Jordan & company kept their shoulders high and pulled off a remarkable comeback.
"Over the last few years especially a lot of the talk is about the batting line-up and how phenomenal it is, but it was nice last night that the bowlers in a sense bailed the batters out."
"TC's final over was brilliant. He held his nerve and stayed as calm as possible in the situation and executed the plans which was the most important thing," he signed off.
(Inputs from AFP)
