Cricket
Chris Jordan: Coaching an option for the future but I’m not ready to retire yet
Chris Jordan has no plans to hang up his bowling boots but the former England paceman is enticed by the option of coaching when he does stop playing.
Moeen Ali once touted Jordan’s potential as a future cricket coach and an uncomfortable light has been shown on the sparse homegrown options after Stephen Fleming was appointed to the England Test job.
In his role as Southern Brave captain in The Hundred, Jordan has enjoyed imparting some wisdom on teenage team-mates Thomas Rew, Caleb Falconer and Manny Lumsden in the last couple of weeks, having also spent time with the trio when he was a consultant on a couple of recent England Under-19s trips.
But, despite turning 38 in October, Jordan believes he is bowling consistently quicker than he ever has done to complement his many variations, so he is not countenancing retirement anytime soon.
“As long as my pace is up and I’m still running long-on to long-on, as long as I’m still hitting sixes and keeping up with the youngsters, I don’t see why I can’t continue (playing),” he told the Press Association.
“In most teams that I play, indirectly I gravitate to the youngsters because I have so much experience in conditions and international cricket, I naturally find myself helping out other people and doing quote, unquote coaching, if you like, without an official role.
“It’s something that’s there and because it does come natural, I’m not really thinking about it.
“It is an option at some point but I’m trying to stay in the present as much as possible and deal with it a day at a time. When the time comes, I’ll know exactly which route I want to take.”
Jordan, whose Brave side were eliminated from The Hundred on Saturday, made 138 England appearances in all formats and was part of their 2022 T20 World Cup triumph in Australia, but he has been overlooked since the 2024 tournament in the Caribbean.
Despite his side’s semi-final exit, Jordan reached 100 T20 wickets and recorded the first ever T20 hat-trick for the England men’s team against the United States on his home island of Barbados.
“I don’t think I have any regrets,” the T20 specialist said when assessing his England career.
“Me and a good friend of mine, Moeen Ali, we speak about it all the time that even if we’d played one game, we would have been happy.
“You get into the team, you become a mainstay and start to play a lot of games, but when you strip it back, the opportunity to step on the international stage and not just take part but really perform, we’re definitely grateful for that.
“After that, there’s certain things you can’t control so there’s no point having any regrets. I’m more in the state of mind of gratitude that I was able to represent the country for as long as I did.”
