Close menu

James Vince: Hampshire captain targets opening spot for England Test return

Last updated on .From the section Cricketcomments129

James Vince reaches 50 for England against New Zealand at Christchurch
James Vince made 76 in his last Test innings for England against New Zealand in March 2018

James Vince hopes a move to opening for Hampshire will enhance his case for a return to England's Test side.

Vince has held conversations with England selector Ed Smith and captain Joe Root to find out how he can reclaim a place in the team this summer, with an Ashes series starting on 1 August.

"The feedback I have got is the higher up the order you bat, the better," the 28-year-old told BBC Radio Solent.

"They're more willing to move people down the order rather than up."

Vince played the last of his 13 Tests in March 2018 against New Zealand, but was overlooked for series against Pakistan and India last summer and the winter tours to Sri Lanka and West Indies.

The Hampshire captain averages 24.90 in 22 Test innings with three half-centuries.

'Three to opener isn't a massive jump'

Despite a hundred in the first Test against Sri Lanka, Keaton Jennings' struggles for the remainder of the winter have made him vulnerable for the visit of Australia. Fellow opener Rory Burns also failed to find any consistency on tour.

"I guess with how the winter has gone, it probably looks from afar that at the top of the order is where spaces may open up," Vince told BBC Radio Solent's Hampshire fans forum.external-link

"I don't think just opening the batting is going to make a difference, but opening and doing it well will.

"Opening for Hampshire isn't a decision based purely on my future and trying to get back in the England side. Jimmy Adams retired last season and we've lost an experienced opener.

"Going from number three to opening isn't a massive jump. It will be more of a mental thing and I think we've got a lot of people at Hampshire who are comfortable in the middle order."

Hampshire first-team manager Adrian Birrell is backing Vince's move.

"He needs to give himself the best chance of playing for England," he said. "My job here is to compete for trophies and produce England players.

"We want to give our players the best possible chance to play for England, so if he puts the numbers on the board, he's got every chance."

Hampshire visit Oxford MCCU for a three-day match starting on Sunday, before getting their County Championship campaign under way against Essex on 5 April.

Comments

Join the conversation

These comments are now closed.

129 comments

  • Comment posted by Rosbif, at 12:05 28 Mar 2019

    The lad Cook who opened for Essex a couple of days ago had a good knock. He might be worth a look.

  • Comment posted by TrojanOtter, at 16:50 28 Mar 2019

    'Three to opener isn't a massive jump'
    So often in England's case, just an over or two.

  • Comment posted by BillM, at 12:46 28 Mar 2019

    Vince is undoubtedly one of the classiest batsmen in county cricket & his technique is certainly good enough to open the batting, but he may need to rein in some of his fluidity to nail down a spot there.

    For me, his biggest problem is that he sometimes seems to find it too easy & plays loosely - similar to Ian Bell early in his career & Joe Root - maybe opening will be the answer for him.

  • Comment posted by jezc, at 11:52 28 Mar 2019

    Great news, potentially, for England & Vince. He’s a class act in all formats. Just needs to rectify his probs on off stump!

  • Comment posted by Nick_Smallman, at 12:03 28 Mar 2019

    Vince is a special talent and in my view has what it takes to prosper at the highest level. There was a very interesting article analysing his ratio of playing and missing in Wisden that is worth a read. I hope that the selectors give him another go.
    https://www.wisden.com/stories/stats-analysis/james-vince-unlucky-analysis-cricviz

  • Comment posted by Total Realist, at 12:40 28 Mar 2019

    Hope he succeeds. Well respected in Australia after his performances in the BBL. A world away from test cricket I know but he made a number of match winning contributions as the 'responsible finisher' of his team. He has the talent.
    Selfless openers who are able to bat for two sessions will be key against Australia to tire their dangerous pace attack.

  • Comment posted by Derek Colwell, at 15:14 28 Mar 2019

    The funniest thing in this article is the coach saying "my job is to win trophies and produce players for England" this from a coach whose county first XI is packed with non English qualified Kolpak players. Guess he doesn't get irony

  • Comment posted by U16912552, at 18:30 28 Mar 2019

    Yorkshire fan who would always welcome James Vince to any team with open arms.
    In there is a magnificent batsman. Play well Vince and make us pick you.

  • Comment posted by Wooster, at 12:21 28 Mar 2019

    I really hope Vince can nail down a spot. He had a good CC last season and if he has an even better one, I see no reason why he shouldn't be given a try. Great player to watch with good technique. Looks the part Vince but needs to get the mental side of his game right.

  • Comment posted by worcesterwolf, at 11:56 28 Mar 2019

    Personally id like to see Hildreth given a chance.
    but if Vince scores runs as opener then ok but needs to be big runs not pretty 30s or 40s.
    Duckett is a good shout as well.
    Denley and Burns deserve more time.

  • Comment posted by Takinsumpositives, at 18:54 28 Mar 2019

    Good. Good for him. Hope he makes the grade. Definitely has the makings. Would love to see him scoring runs for England in Tests.

  • Comment posted by milkybar63, at 13:42 28 Mar 2019

    Good to see a player being proactive about regaining their spot. Clearly has the talent, just needs to figure out the consistency.

  • Comment posted by Raedwulf, at 15:57 28 Mar 2019

    @5: I wouldn't try Bell-Drummond. He's been in poor form the last couple of seasons, having had a very good one the year before. In fact, he was so poor that Kent dropped him down to 5 at the end of last year. It'll be interesting to see where they play DBD this year. If he does well in D1, he'd certainly be in contention but, I suggest, he needs the full season to make a case for himself.

  • Comment posted by Casper, at 13:35 28 Mar 2019

    Will we ever see a BBC article praising James Hildreth?

    Amazing talent that should have been called up by England years ago.

  • Comment posted by RBmtb, at 12:57 29 Mar 2019

    @112. Having watched some CC cricket last year, Vince is a class apart from most of the other batsmen. Why don’t we just get on and support him? Good luck to him - hopefully, he’ll succeed and help solve our problems at the top of the order.

  • Comment posted by Connor McDavid is overrated, at 13:45 28 Mar 2019

    The crazy thing is hes only opening for us because Karunaratne has stayed in Sri Lanka. Fair play to him hopefully he piles on the runs regardless of where he bats and gets another chance with England. On his day terrific to watch.

  • Comment posted by barry_toon, at 13:14 28 Mar 2019

    a good move for him. It doesn't look like anybody's going to nail down a top 3 spot for a while...though I'd persevere with Burns for a while as he seems the kind of opener England need.
    It's just up to somebody to churn out the hundreds at county level to get a chance at test level and then make that spot their own.

  • Comment posted by Numbnuts, at 21:25 28 Mar 2019

    The most important thing to happen in cricket this week is the Butler “Mankad” dismissal so why no HYS about that. How the BBC chooses which topics to have HYS’ on is a mystery to me.

  • Comment posted by SaintG, at 15:53 28 Mar 2019

    If he can tuck his booming cover drive away against the moving ball there’s definitely the skill and potential there - he’s been good but never great for England but I still think there’s a chance for him

  • Comment posted by Bazwold, at 09:47 29 Mar 2019

    Vince averaged 30.5 at 3 in Aus/NZ, the highest of anyone there since Trott. As he was coming in in the first 5 overs given Cooks early dismissals, opening isn’t that different.

    He did score 201no in a 487 ball 10 hour innings at Taunton last year, so he can apply himself.

    As all the centrally contracted players prefer to hide down the order, fair play to him.

Top Stories

Featured