The next man up to the plate is Dagenham’s answer to Babe Ruth (or Shivnarine Chanderpaul), the incoming 1st XI skipper Jordan Calverley. A right handed top order batsman, JC first came to prominence as a 13 year old with his appearance for the 2006 Matchplay side in the semi-finals at Billericay. With a couple of senior players absent, including skipper Bryan Atkins, Jordan was drafted in to bat at number 7 and his gutsy knock, occupying the crease with the odd deflection down to third man, whilst the older batsmen whittled down Wanstead’s 138, was exactly what was required on the day.

Jordan had made his senior debut earlier that season and a Saturday first team debut was to follow as a 16 year old at the start of the 2009 season, although a couple of difficult outings at Thurrock and at home to Leyton County saw JC spend most of that season in the 2’s. He made more of an impression in 2010, although a nightmare run of three successive Saturday league ducks as an opener saw a brief return to the 2’s, before he scored his first 1’s 50 in a cup defeat to bogey team Cosmopolitan on the Annex, ending the 2010 season by making important runs at the top of the order as we beat M&B and then Hornchurch Athletic to win the ECCL T20.

The title winning 2011 season saw Jordan established as a 1’s player, first as a number 5/6 and then in the second half of the season as an opener after Rat’s toys left the pram following successive mid-season league scores of 1,0 and 0. JC hit successive league 50’s against Bow Green and Fords after he was elevated to partner Kurt and it appeared at that stage that the 1’s were sorted for an opening partnership for the next 10 years.

It wasn’t to prove that way however, as although JC kept the role through the wet 2012 season, mainly because nobody was scoring any runs, and finished the season by carrying his bat for a superb ton in the league cup final, by the end of the 2013 title winning campaign he had dropped down to the number 4 slot.

That move has proved an undoubted success, as he was first able to play a series of attacking innings bullying Division One attacks, usually after Kurt had ground them into submission. However following the step up to the Premier Division, his opening experience has proved useful in helping him to play the rebuilding role if we lose early wickets before changing gears later on, and he has been our leading league runscorer for the past 2 campaigns.

Never a man to under-react to adversity, JC’s response to a flurry of lbw decisions was to completely remodel his stance, setting up facing directly at the bowler about a three feet outside leg stump (leading to several awkward stand-offs as bowlers just stare at him waiting for him to get into position), before walking more into line as the bowler delivers. Although this stance has proved popular with slip cordons around the county judging by the feedback offered, it’s worked for JC as it has stopped him from playing round his front pad, gives him good shape to mow anything short or leg side through mid-wicket and makes it anatomically taxing for him to follow away swingers to nick off to the cordon, which was another favourite form of dismissal in his early years.

With the ball, his round the wicket darts have tended to be most commonly sighted under his own captaincy (so be prepared for a few spells next year) and buoyed by a succession of batsman telling him his diet of 16 yard bumpers can be distinctly sharp in the nets, he enthusiastically took the new ball at Rettendon last year in the league, although a combination of the umpires insisting that he delivered from the full 22, Chris Huntington’s appetite for hitting short stuff into gardens and Billy Chapman’s inability to get to very wide balls made this just a three over (for 31) experiment. In the field, JC is the best boundary fielder in the club for the 2 ½ games per season that he’s not carrying an arm injury, meaning that he spends much of his time in the slip/gully region engaging in bants with the batsman.

Something of a fashion icon in the clubs of Essex, JC’s became the first (and potentially only ever) Goresbrook player to appear with both cornrows and a top-knot, a combination rarely even attempted outside of the Samoan rugby team. In the winter JC has had spells at fly-half for Dagenham RUFC, but he can now be sighted at centre-back for the all-conquering M&B Reserves side, where his ability to get booked in a comfortable 5-0 victory is unparalleled in modern football.

Batting

Bowling

Fielding

100 catches
13 wkt catches
8 stumpings

BASICS

Name: Jordan Calverley
GCC Number: 231
Nicknames Juicy, JC, Machine (One of these is exclusively used within the Calverley household, we’ll leave you to decide which)
Tekkers: RH bat, right arm round the wicket darts, or over the wicket net wheels, occasional wicket keeper
Age: 23
Job: Fluid
Hobbies: Gym, football, gambling, gambling and gambling

QUICKFIRE

Favourite Football Team: Man Utd (There’s one in every club. Except in Manchester)
Favourite Music: Michael Buble (JC’s Facebook carpool karaoke videos have reached cult status)
Favourite Movie: Legend
Favourite TV Show: Only Fools and Horses
Favourite Holiday Destination: Vegas
Favourite Meal: Nandos
Favourite Drink: Coca Cola
Who would play you in the film of your life: Ronnie Kray (being pedantic here he’s dead, which would present some problems and Birdy has already reserved Tom Hardy who played the Krays in Legend, so we’ll go with McFly lead signer Tom Fletcher who has been playing JC for the last decade)

GORESBROOK

When did you make your Goresbrook debut? Not a clue (JC’s senior debut was on Sunday 30 Jul 2006 in a friendly against South Loughton. Coming in at number 8, the 13 year old scored 21, putting on a 50 partnership with that year’s Matchplay finalists keeper Chris Burke, who made a commanding 89* as Dave Giesen’s men scored 209-7. They then dismissed South Loughton for 192 in a typical Sunday thriller, 3 wickets from Ash Patel, 2 for Sunil Waghela and a couple of run-outs seeing us in the winners enclosure)

Describe your Goresbrook career in 10 words or less. Duck, duck, duck, ton, ton, ton, duck, ton, duck, ton (Good line. Although statistically only 8.33% of JC’s innings have ended with a duck and 4.33% have been hundreds, so the odds of this happening are roughly those of the Twisler ever winning again)

Who is your favourite GCC Teammate (current or retired) & why? Joe Wilkinson because he’s always up the bar (Just to note that Fingernail rarely has to barge JC out of the way on his allegedly infrequent trips to get served….)

Most memorable game(s)? 100 not out in the Cup Final at Loughton against Barking (I was in Portugal for this one, but most people have this right up there in all-time Goresbrook knocks. The Barking supporters were less convinced, given that they were adamant that it was a 240 pitch as JC was shepherding us to 214, but 177 all out tells a different story)

Which GCC player do you hate facing in the nets? Silly question, Izzy.

What’s the best thing about Goresbrook CC? Sue’s cheese (strong answer)

CRICKET

What other clubs/XI's have you played for? None. (JC’s appearances for the T Rippon league rep XI have been struck from his memory, which is fair enough, given that there are no corresponding runs to strike from the record book)

All-time cricketing hero? Chris Gayle/KP.

Favourite cricket ground & why? Lords. Just is. (we’ll take that to mean Jordan takes great aesthetic pleasure from the historic pavilion and sympathetic arrangement of newer stands, whilst simultaneously thrilling in the bold futuristic design of the media centre at the Home of Cricket)

Describe the best catch you have ever taken? Slip catch against ya man Rob Wickham at home. Kane bowling wheels. Snicked off, took it behind me. Unbelievable! (Watching Chris Kamara every Saturday afternoon for the last 15 years takes its toll apparently)

Best player played against? Paul Calverley. Club Day all-rounder

MISCELLANEOUS

Best sporting achievement outside cricket? Sports boy of the year for 3 years out of 5 at Robert Clack (we assume that by year 11 the staff were so scared of Mitchell Sinfield that the award was his if he wanted it)

Where would you live if money was no object? Vegas

What would you rescue first if your house was on fire? My Phone (Third person to answer this, the 1's basically just Whatsapp each other)

Give us a sporting tip for 2017? Jason Roy to reach number 1 status in ODI (Somewhere in India Virat Kohli is laughing)

Tell us something about yourself that nobody at Goresbrook knows? I’ve got a gambling problem (the man who will be collecting next season’s 1st team subs ladies & gentlemen…)