Selectors justified as ‘the new Vaughan’ comes good

Batsman may have fixed No3 problem by finally living up to his promise, writes

It was the cool way James Vince handled the stress and intensity of an Ashes Test that was so striking, given the frenetic nature of his first attempt to establish himself as an international player.

Before the Test, Vince had posed for photographers in swimming shorts – yes, England have official swimming shorts – on the Gabba Pool Deck in what felt like an apt image for a player who would, presumably, be out of his depth.

His first seven Tests were all about lovely drives and ugly endings. Hang the ball outside off stump long enough and eventually the slip cordon would be in business.

Surely stepping into the fray against a new ball only three overs old at Australian cricket’s great fortress on day one of the Ashes series would be a challenge too far for a batsman who owed his place to the simple fact the selectors had exhausted almost every other possible option at No3. But no. Vince looked as if he had been waiting all his career to bat on a flat Australian pitch, even if this one was slower than expected. Dogged when needed, but elegant when the opportunity arose, Vince (right) took his chance, scoring 83 to announce his arrival in Test cricket. A run-out with a century beckoning was a careless way for it to end, and England need big hundreds to win this series, but Vince is at least up and running.

Standing tall at the crease and able to rise on top of the bounce, Vince once again looked like the new Michael Vaughan that Duncan Fletcher, the former England coach, alluded to in his early days at Hampshire. It helped Vince enormously that Mark Stoneman is such a laid-back character. He was the one who looked like the 150-Test veteran rather than Alastair Cook. They also ran between the wickets with a natural understanding that kept the innings moving and built up Australian frustration. When Josh Hazlewood tried to ruffle Vince by throwing the

ball at him in his follow-through, he responded by hitting the next two balls for four, one through the off side, the other clipped off the legs.

It was the examination by Nathan Lyon that was unexpected, given the hyperbole which surrounded Australia’s pace. Bowling round the wicket to right-handed Vince, Lyon shut off his favoured off-side scoring shots, as driving against the spin would have been dangerous.

A wide ball from Hazlewood was the perfect opportunity for the four to bring up his maiden Test fifty, a moment marked with an understated wave of the bat, a sure sign of a player who knows he has been guilty before of getting ahead of himself and getting out.

But back came Lyon. Vince ground to a halt in his 60s before tea and a big nick to Tim Paine behind the stumps was grassed. Vince had to get to the other end. He did, but the reprieve did not last long. That Lyon dismissed him was not a surprise. The shock was it was a run-out. Standing on his toes and pushing into the off side, Vince called the single but Lyon’s direct hit from cover was a brilliant piece of fielding. It was a flat end to so much hard work.