Never up, never down has been the outlook that has served Chris Jordan well as a Twenty20 death bowler and even when asked about recording a hat-trick for England in the country of his birth, Barbados, he tried to deflect attention back on to the team’s performance.
But eventually, fresh from wiping out the tailenders Ali Khan, Nosthush Kenjige and Saurabh Netravalkar in the space of three balls to set up a 10-wicket win against USA and book a T20 World Cup semi-final place, the 35‑year‑old Jordan finally accepted his place in the spotlight.
“Obviously being in the place where I was born, a place where I played so much cricket, in front of my family, my friends, the atmosphere, hearing the music going … yeah, it was a special one,” Jordan said. “And also because my family actually doesn’t get to travel the world and watch me play a lot of international cricket.”
Asked who was in the ground on the day, he replied: “My mum, my dad, my sister, my brother-in-law, my nephew. My nephew is the one because he called me this morning and said ‘make sure you take three wickets today if you’re playing’. So I looked up and he is jumping up and down. One day he might be out there trying to do the same thing.”
England’s next location will not be confirmed until Monday, with the knockout stage featuring the faintly ludicrous, money-driven stipulation that India must play the second semi‑final in Guyana on Thursday – a day game that will be more watchable back home – rather than under lights in Trinidad the night before.
“You just want to get through,” Jos Buttler, the England captain, said when asked if he had a preference. “It has been a tough tournament, we have seen close games, some upsets, we scraped through to the Super Eights, now we are through to the semis. So we have to just keep ticking the right boxes and now it is anyone’s game from here on in.”
Aaron Jones, who captained the back half of USA’s impressive debut campaign, said: “This is our first World Cup and a lot of people did not think we will be here playing against England, West Indies and the big boys.
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“Hopefully this will open the eyes of the American public. We got a lot of calls and messages of support during this World Cup.”