Hampshire Captain James Vince Named in England Test Squad

Hampshire captain James Vince has been named in the 12-man squad for the first Investec Test against Sri Lanka beginning on Thursday May 19 at Headingley.

The 25-year-old Vince is in line to make his England Test debut adding to his one One-day international cap and four IT20 caps. The right-hand top order batsman is averaging 44.50 in the County Championship this season including scoring an impressive 119 against Yorkshire at Headingley last month.

Despite days of speculation that he was in line for a Test call-up, James Vince admitted that receiving confirmation from National Selector James Whitaker at lunchtime in Manchester yesterday “took a little while to sink in”.

“It’s something I’ve been aiming for since I was a little kid really,” said the 25-year-old Hampshire captain, who made four T20 appearances for England during the winter after being given his international debut in a low-key and rain-ruined ODI against Ireland in Dublin last April.

“Definitely when I was growing up, playing for England in a Test was still the number one.

“I’ve had the experience of the T20s in Dubai against Pakistan, when it was a good feeling being able to contribute to the team. Being in the World T20 squad was a great experience as well although obviously I would have liked to have played more of a part.

“Since then I’ve turned my attention to Hampshire and trying to have a good start to the season. It’s only the last week when I started to notice stuff in the press. But to get the call, it took a while to sink in.”

Vince will return north with the England squad this weekend with happy recent memories of Headingley, after scoring an important century for Hampshire to deny the county champions Yorkshire last month.

“Obviously I wasn’t there long ago and it was nice to spend some time in the middle,” he added. “But this is going to be a different feeling. I’m really looking forward to it, and I’m going to try and soak it all up and enjoy it.”

Vince will be joined in the squad by numerous former England Lions team-mates such as Alex Hales, Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes. He captained Stokes as well as Jonny Bairstow in a one-day series in South Africa in the winter of 2014-15, and enjoyed working with Steven Finn when he retained the captaincy against Pakistan A in Dubai in December and January – as well as Jake Ball, the other newcomer to this England Test squad.

The Ageas Bowl will welcome England twice in 2016; firstly for a NatWest IT20 clash against Sri Lanka in July, on a day which will also see England Women face Pakistan Women, and then again in August for a Royal London ODI against Pakistan.