7 Things WI Learned About Akeem Jordan

He was in disbelief when he was notified of his selection.

Jordan was in Antigua for the West Indies Championship (Regional 4-Day Tournament) when he received the call from lead selector, Desmond Haynes.  He actually missed the call, as he went to purchase some food in Heritage Quay, and had to call back. After the conversation, Akeem was unable to eat the food.

He used to be an opening batsman; only started bowling in third form.

When Jordan entered secondary school, he was an opening batsman and not taking cricket very seriously. However, once he got a growth spurt in third form, his coaches decided to hand him the ball and told him to “run in and bowl it.”  Akeem still loves batting and works extremely hard on the skill.

If no one believes in him, he will still believe in himself.

Jordan credits any success that he has had in the sport to hard work and the resulting confidence in his game.  Based on his experience, whenever he puts his mind to something, he gets it done.  Therefore, those are the attributes that he expects to continue to serve him well throughout his career.

Justin Greaves has helped him a lot in his career so far.

In his own words, Jordan exclaimed that Greaves has assisted him with everything, when it comes to cricket.  His fellow Barbadian cricketer has played three ODI’s so far for the West Indies but has played a lot of local and regional cricket with Jordan.

He was not able to get Tagenarine Chanderpaul out in regional cricket.

While Jordan thinks regional cricket has helped him a lot in terms of being focused for longer periods and making plans for batsmen, just like many others, he has not been able to dislodge Tagenarine Chanderpaul yet.  Joshua Da Silva was not as lucky, as Jordan got him out in last year’s West Indies Championship and reckons, he should have had him out in both innings.

West Indies cricket means EVERYTHING to him.

Ramnaresh Sarwan was his favourite cricketer when he was growing up. From wearing a bandana to mimic his idol while playing cricket in the streets of Barbados with friends, to possibly putting on that coveted maroon cap that he watched “those guys play their hearts out” on TV while wearing, is already an amazing feeling for Jordan. “West Indies cricket is my heart and soul.” Jordan proclaimed during the interview with CWI Media.

He just craves being a part of a successful West Indies cricket family.

Akeem values the opportunity to be around the world class cricketers in the West Indies test team and is eager to learn from them. He doesn’t want to place too many expectations upon himself but wants to be able to do whatever is required of him by the team.  Whether that is to take a valuable wicket or a crucial catch, he just wants to region and his teammates to be able to see that Akeem Jordan is “really putting everything into West Indies cricket.” (Windiescricket)