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Jordan Silk: 'I've ended up where I dreamt of being as a young kid'

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Roar Guru
6th November, 2021
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Jordan Silk is a humble, intelligent professional cricketer that plies his trade for Tasmania.

He didn’t do things the easy way as he was plucked out of Sydney grade cricket at age 19. He was once touted as a future Australian captain.

Silk took 16 catches in BBL10, the equal most in one series of any player in BBL history.

It was a great experience to conduct an interview with him.

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What did you want to do growing up and why?
I think growing up I was always very interested in sport, and I played a lot of sport when I was younger. I think growing up there was definitely an aspiration to be able to play sport for a living. I was definitely surrounded by sports that I was chasing pretty hard and from a young age too. I feel like I’ve ended up probably where I guess I dreamt of being as a young kid.

Is there anything that helps motivate you to be a professional cricketer?
Probably first and foremost is wanting to represent my family as well as I can. That’s probably a big job for me, is representing the Silk name and then the other one I guess is success and chasing trophies and things like that, probably motivates me as to why I’ve got to do what I do … To live out the ultimate dream. What gets me through the day-to-day sort of training stuff is thinking about those end goals and winning championships.

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Jordan Silk

(Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)

What was your debut for Tasmania like?
2013 I think it was, in February. It was daunting, from memory, again I wasn’t sure if I was necessarily up for the level … Playing against a pretty strong Queensland side, who we then met in the final a few weeks later. It was such a special occasion though, and to actually have my mum and dad fly up to Queensland for it made it extra special. It was an unbelievable experience; one I’ll remember for a long time. I actually had my cap presented [by] Tim Paine, so I won’t forget that either.

What are your hobbies outside of cricket?
I love playing golf with a few of the boys. I’ve actually got a small business that I’m running at the minute called Pinot and Picasso, so that’s I guess a bit of work outside of cricket that I’m occupied with at the moment. It’s a painting studio in Hobart. I’m involved in that with a couple of other guys, Charlie Wakim and Jackson Bird.

You seem to be very composed. Does this trait come naturally to you?
Certainly not. I’m glad that people think that because certainly under the skin there’s definitely some nervous energy that goes around while I’m playing. I think it’s probably something that’s come through with a bit of age and maturity, and understanding what’s required of me at the time in a certain game. Five or six years ago, it was a lot different to how I feel like I would respond now. I can only really put that down to a bit of maturity, that’s how I put it down, and experience.

Do you have ambitions of playing for Australia, and what format would it be in and why?
My one-day stuff and I know my T20 stuff has been pretty good in the last couple of years. I think, ideally, hopefully popping up in maybe one of those formats, but I certainly don’t want to put a line through myself in terms of Test series as well. So I think at this stage it’s probably, in order, it might be T20 cricket, one-day cricket. I think that’s probably where I’d be sitting in terms of playing for Australia at the moment.

Jordan Silk and James Vince of the Sixers celebrate winning a Big Bash League

(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

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What has it been like to captain Tasmania?
It’s a huge honour. I’ve been down here for ten seasons now and probably consider myself Tasmanian after moving as a youngster. I’ve grown to understand what it means to play for Tasmania, what it means to be Tasmanian and it’s a huge honour, it’s not one I take lightly. I had a chance to captain when I was quite young, and probably didn’t really understand the full significance of it. Now going out there, I’m always looking at that badge every time I walk on to the field. It’s a huge honour to captain. I know it’s cliché, but it really is to me. Having been here for a long time now, I definitely feel part of the fabric in terms of being Tasmanian.

What are your most successful moments in your career?
I think I was quite lucky, one of mine [winning the 2012-13 Sheffield Shield with Tasmania] came very early in my career. I know I was quite new to the team, it was only my third game of cricket, professionally. The high of that whole week, week after, it’s something that I wish I was almost older to experience and understand the true meaning of it all. Sort of coming in quite late and sort of a bit of a whirlwind for me. I feel like if I was to win one now after everything that I’ve sort of been through in my career, the ups and downs, I haven’t really had any that to that stage. It would mean a hell of a lot more to win a championship now.

I guess lately the two Big Bash titles I’ve won back to back have been massive highs. Those moments, particularly the ones the Sixers won last year after spending the majority of the season on the road. … One of the more memorable cricket moments of my career. I mean probably from an individual perspective, making 100 with Ricky Ponting at the other end, my first 100, and having him at the other end. I’m probably going to throw that one in there from an individual perspective.

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