Central Districts Cricket Association is honoured to welcome a new Life Member of the organisation, Central Stags Alumnus Alistar Jordan.

Born in Inglewood just three months before CD played its first match, Jordan's name is synonymous with Taranaki Cricket after a lifetime not only of playing the game to the highest level, but giving back as a much loved, respected and influential coach.

Central Districts CEO, Lance Hamilton said there could be no individual who had given more of his time for the advancement of Taranaki Cricket and its players over the past 50 years.

"Ali was not only a terrific pace bowler in his day, but has given his time, heart, soul and knowledge to hundreds of Taranaki cricketers in the years since.

"Ali has totally embraced and embodied what it means to be a cricketer from Taranaki Cricket, and advanced not only his District's cricket history, but Central Districts cricket history through his many performances for the Stags, and beyond."

Jordan's elevation to Life Membership of the Association was ratified recently by the CDCA Board, followed by a formal presentation - fittingly at his beloved Pukekura Park, ahead of the Stags' first match at the ground this season.

ALI JORDAN addresses the Stags at Pukekura Park | PHOTOSPORT

A right-arm fast medium bowler and left-hand bat, Jordan, 74, represented the Stags from 1968/69 to 1979/80, playing 55 of his 58 first-class matches for the team.

He also played 12 List A one-dayers from 1970/71 to 1979/80, and was a foundation member of the Stags' first white-ball side that played a 40-over fixture against the touring Marleybone Cricket Club (MCC) at Palmerston North's Fitzherbert Park in March 1971, with eight balls bowled per over.

Jordan opened the attack and promptly removed England Test representative Keith Fletcher as his first wicket.

Jordan said he felt very honoured to receive a Life Membership of the organisation he had so proudly represented.

"I follow and back the Central Stags to this day, and when you walk into Pukekura Park - it still just makes you feel like lacing on the boots and playing.

"It gives me great pleasure to be a Life Member of the Central Districts Cricket Association."

ALISTAR JORDAN

Taranaki Cricket Association

• Central Stags Alumnus 89

• Central Stags white-ball cap number 4

Profile by Central Stags Alumnus 101, IAN SNOOK

Ian Snook is a former Taranaki and Central Stags captain

First selected for the Central Stags as an 18-year-old in 1968, Ali Jordan played 55 consecutive games over 11 seasons, and was the main spearhead of the attack during that period.

Jordan also played 12 List A fixtures - for a total of 67 games in the colours of Central Districts, and was a member of the very first CD one-day side. 

For those who played with Jordan, or who watched him perform on the first-class scene, they would have noted a particularly fierce competitor, who bowled every ball with maximum effort.

Competitiveness, aggressiveness, team focus and loyalty were his hallmarks as a player. There were 9,433 express balls, delivered from a thundering run-up in his 55 Stags games, and 157 wickets executed at an average of 28.22.

He took a further 17 wickets at an average of just 18 in CD List A fixtures.

There were seven bags of five wickets in an innings, with a best performance of 7/82 against Otago in a match in which CD was so far behind at the end of Day Two that the Association announced free entry for the public on Day Three.

With the CD tail wagging on the third morning, and Jordan bowling - with extreme hostility (with an injury), Otago was beaten outright. This was the real measure of the player in every Central Districts game that he played.

No one was more driven to perform for the team.

There was also three first-class games for New Zealand when he was selected for the 1972/73 tour to Australia, "The Rest", and NZ Under 23. All in all, the 11 seasons involved 58 first-class matches and 165 wickets.

There were two Plunket Shield championship titles too, won under Vic Pollard and Bevan Congdon, and there was a short period as captain towards the end of his career - which included a losing final against Otago.

In the late Brian Bellringer’s Central Districts Cricket Jubilee publication, The Stags’ Progress – Sixty Years of Central Districts Cricket, Bellringer states, “For much of the 1970s, the Central Districts fast bowling attack centred on Jordan…. He had the fast bowler’s natural antipathy towards batsmen, and missed chances led him to try even harder….. (in 1973/74) Jordan continually attacked the batsmen to top the bowling with 26 wickets, at an average of 17.88……. He rated players for their fighting ability and endurance….”

In the same book, David O’Sullivan, who is the Central Stag's all-time leading wicket-taker, said “Alistar Jordan was the best of his contemporaries with the ball in hand.”

A Taranaki Cricket Association icon

Being a Central Districts player was only part of the big picture of contributions Jordan has made to cricket in the Central Districts region.

At age 16, he played his first game for the Taranaki provincial side, and 25 years later he would play his last and 104th game.

Those 25 years included the 67 Central Districts games; a tour with New Zealand; a season representing Cambridgeshire in England; a serious health issue which slowed him down for three seasons; club games for New Plymouth Old Boys (as was the requirement in those days; and a period when he would play in various New Plymouth Boys' High School teams as he coached his son, Kent.

It would not be an exaggeration to state that 50,000 balls were delivered at between 130/145 kph, during this period.

Jordan is a true Taranaki Cricketing great, with 375 wickets (more than 100 more wickets clear of the bowler) at an average of 19; including 27 five-wicket bags and, on six occasions, 10 wickets in a match.

His best figures were 9/103 against a strong Hutt Valley side in a Hawke Cup defence. With a top score of 77, he also managed to average 17 with the bat.

In 2011, on the 100th anniversary of the competition, his playing stature was recognised with his selection in ‘The Hawke Cup Team of the Century’, based on his powerful influence in Taranaki’s successful defences in the early 1970s.

In the midst of all these games, he was busy running cricket at the local primary school for 10 seasons, which included laying an artificial pitch; ensuring every cricket child received individual coaching; and he would umpire on Saturday mornings as well.

There were also five years of playing and coaching at New Plymouth Boys' High School which was one of the most successful periods for the school, and there were eight seasons of coaching Taranaki age group teams, from Under 12s to Under 19s.

During this period, there were also two seasons coaching the Central Districts Under 15s and Under 17s. On retiring from playing, there were 22 seasons coaching and selecting the Taranaki representative side.

PHOTOSPORT

The first 10 were as Head Coach, during which time Taranaki would win the Hawke Cup, whilst the subsequent years were as the Assistant Coach and Selector.

The amount of time and energy put in to provincial cricket - all on a voluntary basis - cannot be matched in Taranaki.

Then there are other aspects that are little known. Jordan laid a pitch in front of the house on his Maude Road farm, and carried out many coaching sessions for young players.

Gary Robertson would go on to play for New Zealand whilst (Gary's brother) Steve Robertson and Ross Ormiston were very successful first-class cricketers. Kate Ebrahim (née Broadmore), a WHITE FERN and Central Hinds representative (later Canterbury and Otago Sparks), was also a regular attender, but these were just a few of those who turned up.

Whilst a member of the New Plymouth Old Boys Cricket committee, Jordan played a big part in starting ‘coaching in schools’ in the early 1980s, and introduced the ‘Sunday League’ in 1978: a competition that was a prelude to the one-day format in Taranaki.

He was also instrumental in the development of the practice area and the clubrooms at the NPOB Cricket Club.

Jordan’s stature in Taranaki has already been acknowledged with Life Membership of Taranaki Cricket; as an ambassador of the Taranaki Events Centre Trust; an inductee in the Taranaki Sports Hall of Fame; and he has received a Citizens Award from the New Plymouth District Council.

PHOTOSPORT

Jamie Watkins, a Taranaki rep and more recently, an integral part of the Central Districts Cricket Association coaching and development programme, says: “Ali has had a huge influence on both my playing and coaching career.

"Without doubt I played my best cricket when he took over the Taranaki team as Head Coach in 2003, as did the team winning the Hawke Cup - with three challenges in a four-year period.

"He instilled a belief and culture in the whole group, and everyone wanted to play for him as coach, work hard, back each other, and never ever give up.

"The traits he portrayed as a coach have always been the core values of my coaching, too. I’ve always tried to back players and instill a belief in them, like he did.

"Ali is always available for advice and support, and great to talk to about cricket, which I still do.”

Farming and business commitments have enabled Jordan to remain a loyal supporter of Taranaki and Central Districts cricket. Even today, Jordan is coaching at NPBHS, this time with one of his grandson’s teams.

Taranaki, Central Stags and BLACKCAPS batsman Will Young has also benefited immensely from Jordan’s input.

Young commented, “I think his presence, and the time that he has put into local teams, meant that a young guy like me coming through the cricket system in Taranaki had someone to look up to, and aspire to be like.

"Ali's a genuinely great guy and role model."

CDCA Life Members

• Mr. P. Scott Briasco     
• Ms. B. Jan Davies        
• Mr. John A. Fluker        
• Mr. Blair D.M. Furlong
• Mr. Richard E. Hayward
• Prof. Gary L.R. Hermansson   
• Mr. Alistar B. Jordan       
• Ms. Annette Maher         
• Mr. Peter W. Moody        
• Mr. Dermot H. Payton
• Mr. Gary Pond  
• Mr. Blair Robinson 
• Mr. Michael Sewell 
• Mr. Jock G. Sutherland     
• Mr. David E. Townend
• Mrs. Aimee L. Watkins 
• Mr. Graeme W. Young

 

Article added: Friday 01 December 2023