James Vince is a right-handed batter and occasional right-arm medium bowler.
He was born in Cuckfield, Sussex and has been the Club captain since 2015.
Having progressed through the age groups, Vince made his First XI debut in the 2009 County Championship against Nottinghamshire – at just 18 years old – and he quickly became a regular to begin the 2010 campaign.
While still a teenager, Vince became the second quickest player to reach 1,000 runs for Hampshire – behind only Phil Mead. He was part of the sides that won the 2010 T20 title and the white-ball double in 2012.
In 2013, he scored an impressive 1,101 runs in the County Championship and was subsequently awarded with the Players' Player of the Year Award. After showing an increasing amount of potential as a leader, Vince was then appointed Club vice-captain and T20 captain ahead of the 2014 season.
His 1,525 runs, at an average of 61.00, in the 2014 County Championship was more than any other batter in the country and helped Hampshire to lift the Division Two title. Ahead of the 2015 season, Vince also assumed the 50-over captaincy duties from Jimmy Adams.
He was awarded with his first full England call-up at the end of April 2015, featuring in an 11-man squad to face Ireland in a May ODI. During the domestic season, Vince amassed over 700 runs in the T20 Blast – which still stands as the record amount during a single competition.
In July 2015, Vince took over the Championship captaincy from Adams who stood down to concentrate on his batting and later that year it was announced that Vince would be the Club’s new captain across all formats.
Vince then made his IT20 and Test debuts during the 2015/16 winter against Pakistan and Sri Lanka respectively. He also captained England Lions on numerous occasions, and was chosen as skipper of the South team for the North v South Series hosted in Dubai in the lead up to the 2017 season.
Following his continuously impressive form for Hampshire – including leading them to a seventh T20 Finals Day in eight seasons – Vince was rewarded with an Ashes Test Squad call-up and featured in all five matches down under that winter.
After returning to Utilita Bowl for the 2018 season, he again impressed in the County Championship campaign, totalling 962 runs in 14 matches whilst also guiding Hampshire to fifth in the Division One table, but it was the Royal London One-Day Cup where Vince made most impact.
The skipper racked up more than 500 runs in 10 matches during the campaign, including a sublime semi-final knock of 171 against Yorkshire, as Hampshire triumphed in the competition's Lord's final to claim their first silverware in six years.
Vince’s season for Hampshire in 2019 was put on pause mid-way through due to his participation in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, where he was part of the England squad which would go on to win the tournament, in dramatic fashion, and be crowned world champions for the first time.
Despite the interruption to his season, he was still able to rack up over 1,000 runs across the formats, including a List A career-high 190 against Gloucestershire in the Royal London Cup, a knock which also stands as a Club record.
In the truncated 2020 season, Vince was absent for the Bob Willis Trophy due to personal reasons before returning for the Vitality Blast where he led the side in the competition’s closing stages.
The skipper had a successful 2021, which started with winning the Big Bash League with the Sydney Sixers. He then guided Hampshire Hawks to Finals Day in the Vitality Blast, before captaining Southern Brave to triumph in the inaugural season of The Hundred.
He also excelled in the County Championship, leading Hampshire in runs scored with 816 – including a magnificent 231 against Leicestershire in April – as they came within one game of winning their first title since 1973.
Vince scored his first international century during the third ODI against Pakistan at Edgbaston in July 2021, scoring 102 from 95 balls in a match winning innings.
2022 was another successful season for Hampshire's captain. Vince led by example in the County Championship, scoring 839 runs at an average of 38.14, with a top score of 111.
However, it was in the Vitality Blast that Vince really shone as he led Hampshire Hawks to a third T20 title. He scored a competition leading 673 runs at an average of over 50, with centuries against Kent (100) and Somerset (129*). As a result, he was named as the Vitality Blast’s MVP for 2022 and he picked up the White Ball Batter of the Year at the Club’s End of Season Awards.
He continued his dominance in the T20 competition in 2023, once again leading the way with 670 runs at an average of 60.90. A high score of 103 came during a win over Essex Eagles, while he also made seven half-centuries as the Hawks qualified for a record tenth Finals Day.
In the County Championship, he passed 1,000 runs for the first time in Division One, averaging 47.95 and with a best of 186 against Northamptonshire.
He was named T20 MVP and Batter of the Year at Hampshire’s End of Season Awards.
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