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The World of Cricket: Not so fast Clive Lloyd, we saw quickie Chris Jordan first
Country strife: Chris Jordan may face a tough choice between England and West Indies
Clive Lloyd went to The Oval to support Lancashire — but it was an opponent who caught his eye. For there, playing for Surrey at the end of last season, was an 18-year-old, very quick bowler from Barbados who had somehow slipped under the West Indian radar and was carving out a new life for himself in England.
The greatest West Indies captain could not believe it. "Give me his phone number," Lloyd demanded of Surrey captain Mark Butcher. Instead, he was referred to Mark's dad and Surrey coach Alan Butcher.
"I tried to stall Clive and told him I didn't have the number until I bumped into him at a function in the winter," said Butcher senior.
"Straight away Clive said to me 'What about that boy?' and I just smiled and said 'Sorry, Clive, too late, we've nicked him!'"
The boy in question is Chris Jordan and the reason Butcher was smiling is that he happens to be the best young prospect in the domestic game yet to play representative cricket.
He has signed a Surrey contract as a non-overseas player on the back of his British passport, but his talent will soon become evident to a much wider audience.
When it does, Lloyd and company may well try to contact him again and Jordan will find himself at the centre of a huge emotional tug-of-war over whether he should play for England or West Indies.
Chris Jordan, now 19, is as Barbadian as Cockspur Rum but England are now in pole position to claim him.
That is because of the foresight of former England and Yorkshire batsman Bill Athey, now a master at Dulwich College, who spotted him in Barbados and offered him a scholarship.
Surrey's coaches, who have polished this rough diamond for the past two years, are convinced they have unearthed a very special talent.
Surrey second-team coach Nadeem Shahid was excited after watching Jordan bowl just one over in a trial match against Middlesex and immediately told Butcher they should sign him.
"I told him to calm down," recalled Butcher. "But then I watched him bowl in the first-team nets. He was quick but he could also reverse swing it into the blockhole, bowl slower balls out of the back of his hand and send down a very good bouncer. He can bat, too. We think he's the real deal.'
Surrey snapped him up and unleashed him in five championship matches last season when Jordan not only took 20 wickets but was also clocked at 90mph in that game against Lancashire when Lloyd took notice.
Soon after, John Carr of the ECB, rang Surrey and told them England wanted to pick Jordan for the Lions tour of India, only to discover he would not qualify for his adopted country under residency rules until January 2010.
Further evidence of Jordan's potential came when Kevin Shine, the ECB fast bowling coach, rang Dennis Lillee, who saw the young West Indian bowl during last winter at Perth, and asked him: "Will Jordan play Test cricket?" The answer, from perhaps the greatest fast bowler of them all, was an emphatic yes.
So how did Chris Jordan end up here and how did the West Indies, who are crying out for a young superstar, let him go? Inquiries in the Caribbean are met with an ignorance of the youngster's capabilities.
There is even a suggestion Vasbert Drakes, the Barbados coach, advised him to go to England where he could have a better future. And if that is true, nothing better sums up the chronic mess West Indian cricket is in.
To be fair, Jordan was little more than a medium pacer until he was 16. Wicketkeepers stood up to him. He was not selected by the Barbados Under 19s and, after that setback, decided to take up the offer of a place with "Mr Athey" at Dulwich.
Jordan, a charming and polite young man who has impressed Surrey as much with his character as his bowling, takes up the story in his rich Barbadian accent: "I wasn't sure if I wanted to leave home at first but my dad said it was a massive opportunity.
"I had been to England lots of times because my mother and grandmother spent much of their lives in Stevenage and we came over for holidays. That's how I've got a British passport.
"Mr Athey and everyone at Dulwich were fantastic to me and now I just want to do well for Surrey."
He is engagingly honest when asked where his future lies. "Ideally, I would love to play in the West Indies but at the moment my life is in England," he said.
"If the chance came to play for England I can't say I'd turn it down but I have a lot of time to think about that and I don't want to get too far ahead of myself.
"It was my dream to play for the West Indies as a kid but I never thought this chance would come up and, as you go along, you sometimes have to go where life takes you. I'm really happy here."
Your heart tells you that Jordan, in Surrey's Championship side at Durham, really should play for the West Indies for the good of ailing Caribbean cricket and he understands that point of view.
But when Shahid visited Barbados this winter he found Jordan's old coaches still adamant the boy was nothing special.
"It was almost as if their pride would not allow them to admit they've made a mistake," said Shahid.
If Surrey, who believe he can become a No 6 batsman, are right then England will have cause to be truly thankful.
SCOUTING REPORT (Darren Pattinson, Nottinghamshire)
Country strife: Chris Jordan may face a tough choice between England and West Indies
Clive Lloyd went to The Oval to support Lancashire — but it was an opponent who caught his eye. For there, playing for Surrey at the end of last season, was an 18-year-old, very quick bowler from Barbados who had somehow slipped under the West Indian radar and was carving out a new life for himself in England.
The greatest West Indies captain could not believe it. "Give me his phone number," Lloyd demanded of Surrey captain Mark Butcher. Instead, he was referred to Mark's dad and Surrey coach Alan Butcher.
"I tried to stall Clive and told him I didn't have the number until I bumped into him at a function in the winter," said Butcher senior.
"Straight away Clive said to me 'What about that boy?' and I just smiled and said 'Sorry, Clive, too late, we've nicked him!'"
The boy in question is Chris Jordan and the reason Butcher was smiling is that he happens to be the best young prospect in the domestic game yet to play representative cricket.
He has signed a Surrey contract as a non-overseas player on the back of his British passport, but his talent will soon become evident to a much wider audience.
When it does, Lloyd and company may well try to contact him again and Jordan will find himself at the centre of a huge emotional tug-of-war over whether he should play for England or West Indies.
Chris Jordan, now 19, is as Barbadian as Cockspur Rum but England are now in pole position to claim him.
That is because of the foresight of former England and Yorkshire batsman Bill Athey, now a master at Dulwich College, who spotted him in Barbados and offered him a scholarship.
Surrey's coaches, who have polished this rough diamond for the past two years, are convinced they have unearthed a very special talent.
Surrey second-team coach Nadeem Shahid was excited after watching Jordan bowl just one over in a trial match against Middlesex and immediately told Butcher they should sign him.
"I told him to calm down," recalled Butcher. "But then I watched him bowl in the first-team nets. He was quick but he could also reverse swing it into the blockhole, bowl slower balls out of the back of his hand and send down a very good bouncer. He can bat, too. We think he's the real deal.'
Surrey snapped him up and unleashed him in five championship matches last season when Jordan not only took 20 wickets but was also clocked at 90mph in that game against Lancashire when Lloyd took notice.
Soon after, John Carr of the ECB, rang Surrey and told them England wanted to pick Jordan for the Lions tour of India, only to discover he would not qualify for his adopted country under residency rules until January 2010.
Further evidence of Jordan's potential came when Kevin Shine, the ECB fast bowling coach, rang Dennis Lillee, who saw the young West Indian bowl during last winter at Perth, and asked him: "Will Jordan play Test cricket?" The answer, from perhaps the greatest fast bowler of them all, was an emphatic yes.
So how did Chris Jordan end up here and how did the West Indies, who are crying out for a young superstar, let him go? Inquiries in the Caribbean are met with an ignorance of the youngster's capabilities.
There is even a suggestion Vasbert Drakes, the Barbados coach, advised him to go to England where he could have a better future. And if that is true, nothing better sums up the chronic mess West Indian cricket is in.
To be fair, Jordan was little more than a medium pacer until he was 16. Wicketkeepers stood up to him. He was not selected by the Barbados Under 19s and, after that setback, decided to take up the offer of a place with "Mr Athey" at Dulwich.
Jordan, a charming and polite young man who has impressed Surrey as much with his character as his bowling, takes up the story in his rich Barbadian accent: "I wasn't sure if I wanted to leave home at first but my dad said it was a massive opportunity.
"I had been to England lots of times because my mother and grandmother spent much of their lives in Stevenage and we came over for holidays. That's how I've got a British passport.
"Mr Athey and everyone at Dulwich were fantastic to me and now I just want to do well for Surrey."
He is engagingly honest when asked where his future lies. "Ideally, I would love to play in the West Indies but at the moment my life is in England," he said.
"If the chance came to play for England I can't say I'd turn it down but I have a lot of time to think about that and I don't want to get too far ahead of myself.
"It was my dream to play for the West Indies as a kid but I never thought this chance would come up and, as you go along, you sometimes have to go where life takes you. I'm really happy here."
Your heart tells you that Jordan, in Surrey's Championship side at Durham, really should play for the West Indies for the good of ailing Caribbean cricket and he understands that point of view.
But when Shahid visited Barbados this winter he found Jordan's old coaches still adamant the boy was nothing special.
"It was almost as if their pride would not allow them to admit they've made a mistake," said Shahid.
If Surrey, who believe he can become a No 6 batsman, are right then England will have cause to be truly thankful.
SCOUTING REPORT (Darren Pattinson, Nottinghamshire)
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