Vince seeks to offer reminder after Test ‘big one’ gets away
The Hampshire captain can restate his England credentials in today’s cup final against Kent
Of all the things that are not what they used to be, the county cup final at Lord’s is right up there, along with the punctuality of trains and the availability of caviar. If this was the county cup final like the good old days on the first Saturday in September, and the highlight of the English season except perhaps in an Ashes summer, James Vince would be just a century away from getting back into the England Test side. No matter that it was a limited-overs game, England’s selectors were not overzealous about data in those days, and a ton in a cup final was good enough for them.
A century now in the rather run-down county cup final would be nothing more than one small step for Vince, who scored 76 in the Christchurch Test in April then lost his place to Jos Buttler. But one of the few things Buttler cannot do is bat No3, nor has Joe Root made a big score in that position, so beneath that exterior which is almost suave yet does not quite conceal how much he cares, Vince lives in hope.
Told to make big hundreds if he wants a Test recall, Vince has scored 203 against Somerset and is the third-highest run-scorer in the County Championship Division One, with 626, behind Surrey’s Rory Burns and Ollie Pope, who seems a Test batsman in the making.
In the Royal London One-day Cup, Vince cannot quite match Heino Kuhn, who propelled Kent into the final with his four centuries, but he has scored 504 at 63 and his semi-final century against Yorkshire, 171 off 126, was another example of how Vince can touch the heights of batsmanship.
“I think I’ve been treated very fairly and given good opportunities before that [his omission for the Test series against Pakistan],” Vince said diplomatically on the eve of the final, without quite concealing the implication that he thought he was making a breakthrough when dropped.
“I’m averaging 24, 25, that doesn’t mean you should be selected to play for England. So I understood it but at the same time, from my point of view, 70-odd in the last Test – and I know it’s still not a big hundred – and then 200 the week before [the series against Pakistan], I felt that if I was going to get that big one in Test cricket, I felt in a good place to do that in the first Test this summer.
“When I got the call from Ed Smith [national selector], I didn’t know who had come in – I sort of assumed it was going to be another batter coming in to bat three.
“Obviously they reshuffled, and in a way it didn’t take any pain away, but the fact Jos was coming in, I understand that completely and he’s done really well and probably in the form of his life. So it’s maybe a little bit easier to take that it was a reshuffle rather than a direct replacement.”
Is the Test door still open? “I hope so, I was told that on the phone by Ed. He emphasised the fact of scoring big hundreds and playing a big part in every game.”
Is he reasonably philosophical? “Yeah, of course I’d love to be playing and want to get back in that team. I hadn’t cemented that place by any stretch but hopefully big runs this season, a good back end of the season, and try and get in contention for the winter again.
“I’m feeling in good touch in all formats at the minute. The way I judge myself, if I get myself out and could have gone on and got more, that is the hardest thing to take. If you can walk back into the changing-room and think, ‘What could I have done about that, not a lot’, then move on to the next one and try and go bigger.
“The most important thing is having the confidence that you can sit out there for as long as possible and trust in your technique, whether in attack or defence, so in terms of that I’m in a good place.”
Hampshire have more stars, most notably Dale Steyn, who is trying hard to regain his South African Test place. But in the belief that it is a two-spinner pitch, they might take a risk with Mason Crane who, as England know, can be expensive – which offers Kent, with their youthful energies, an opening.
Kent are reviving as a producer of talent, as the former England director Paul Downton fertilises the county’s grass-roots. After his Indian Premier League experiences, captain Sam Billings will not be fazed by a crowd of 20,000. He has been left out of England’s one-day squad against India but understands that he needs to play some cricket instead of warming the bench.
“From an individual point of view, I think it’s the best thing for my cricket, I just need to play some cricket,” said Billings, who missed the start of the season through being at the IPL. This week he enjoyed a rare championship match. “It was really nice to have some time in the middle.”
Lord’s has been little more than half-full for recent cup finals, and this is the last one there before it is relocated to Trent Bridge. No, never again will the county final be what it once was.