Less than 48 hours after the thrilling climax to their County Championship tussle down at Taunton, Surrey and Somerset are set to resume their rivalry up at Edgbaston on Saturday, with a rematch of their T20 Blast semi-final from 12 months ago.
“Over the last few years especially, this fixture has produced some exciting, competitive results,” Jordan told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s ironic that in the week leading into Finals Day, we’ve been playing against the exact same team.
“Any road to the final is never easy, and at some point you have to beat the best team. Obviously, they’re defending champions, and deservedly so, so we’ll need to be right on it. But it’s always hard-fought battles, and the team that plays best on the day normally wins this particular encounter, so we don’t see it being any different.”
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“It can be tough, but the best players just make the switch,” Jordan said. “The main thing is it’s a mindset shift, your technique is not going to change too much between formats. You just have to assess the situation and the conditions and decide what approach to take. I don’t see it as being too different. With the type of multi-format cricketers we have, they can do it quite effortlessly.”
“It was an unbelievable knock, but well deserved, because he’s been working so hard on his power game since he came back to Surrey,” Jordan said. “He’s a lot more expansive, but his batting in the powerplay has been key, because this year the brand-new white ball has been doing a bit more than normal. He’s just played some good cricketing shots, with a good technique, and that quarter-final was a great template for him. His tempo was really good, and it helped us to control that chase.”
“We’ll have a few changes to the line-up but that’s been the theme of the season. We’re blessed with a squad where so many of our guys are internationals, so we’re trusting the team to get the job done”
Chris Jordan on Surrey’s absent England quartet
“Obviously, we’ll have a few changes to the line-up but that’s been the theme of the entire season,” he said. “We’re blessed with a squad where so many of our guys are good enough to get international accolades, so we’re trusting all the guys to go and get the job done.
“There’s a lot to take in as captain, but I always knew what I was getting myself into. It can be challenging, but my mindset is just to find solutions. Obviously Covid has set back a lot of schedules, so everyone is playing catch-up, and for me, personally, I know from being involved in an England set-up that country comes first.
“International games are very high intensity, so to release players right in the middle of a T20 series, for a game the next day, would be quite tough, both mentality and on the body. It’s about that balance between giving the guys their best opportunity to perform in a England shirt, and having them available for one of the big days in our English calendar. It’s unfortunate, but we just leave it to the powers-that-be.”
It continues Roy’s steady drift away from the English game, following his decision in May 2023 to negotiate an early release from his ECB contract in order to be a free agent, but Jordan had sympathy for his former England team-mate, whom he recognises as a first-mover in the shifting world of T20 cricket.
“Obviously, it’s a little bit of an unusual scenario, but we’re in unusual territory as well, with so much franchise cricket and different opportunities popping up over the world.
“The cricket community as a whole hasn’t fully come to grips with the moving times,” Jordan added. “[Roy’s] taken his own decision in terms of his own career. He’s been a great performer for us, we would have loved to have him, but we also wish him all the best in everything he does, because it’s such a big part of the dressing room.”
On his own England ambitions, Jordan is realistic about the status quo. Despite a strong showing at the recent T20 World Cup – including a memorable hat-trick in front of his friends and family in Barbados – he recognises that, with his 36th birthday approaching next month, he is unlikely to be a part of the white-ball reboot under Brendon McCullum’s expanded remit as head coach.
“I’m the kind of person that likes to take a day at a time and control what I can control,” he said. “The England team is in a bit of a transition period, and at some point, I knew that stage would come. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the door is shut, but all I can do is play the cricket that’s presented in front of me, and try to do as best as possible.
“Coming off the World Cup, I was a little bit in and out of the team, so it was nice to come back and put in a few performances for Surrey and Southern Brave as well. But I’ll just try to do my job on Finals Day, which will be leading the team as best as possible, but also performing my role.”
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket
Source: ESPN Crickinfo