Hampshire coach Craig White on James Vince and frustrating weather

Hampshire coach Craig White on James Vince and frustrating weather

Stumps, Day One: Surrey 16-0 v Hampshire

James Vince is one of the best limited-overs players in world cricket, according to Hampshire coach Craig White.

Vince, who has played five ODIs and five T20Is for England, was not included in either squad for the upcoming matches against West Indies – his last appearance in both formats came last year.

But White is adamant of the quality of Hampshire’s white-ball captain, saying: “I rate Vincey as one of the best one-day cricketers in the world and he just can’t seem to get a spot.

“So he’s got to keep plugging away and putting in performances, day in, day out, like he’s been doing and hopefully he’ll get his chance.”

Teammate Liam Dawson did get named in the squad for the lone T20I at Chester-le-Street later this month, after being dropped from the Test side earlier this summer, but Mason Crane – in the squad for all three West Indies Tests and the South Africa T20Is – did not.

“Maybe they’re letting him focus on the red ball for a couple of months,” White said of Crane. “I think, reading between the lines of that, they’re probably going to take him to Australia, so we’ll wait and see on that one.

“Great news for Liam. He’s looking forward to that. I think he’s really confident with white-ball cricket. He prefers bowling with the white-ball, so it probably is his strongest format.

Hampshire found themselves unable to get back on track after Saturday’s semi-final defeat in the Natwest T20 Blast, after rain ruined all but five overs of the opening day against Surrey.

Visiting captain Gareth Batty wanted a toss, losing it and being forced to bat. Openers Rory Burns and Ryan Patel helped them to 16 without loss before intermittent showers kept the players from returning.

“[There’s] not much you can do about that; [it is] one of the most frustrating days we’ve had. Just teased us all day. We were just about to start and then it’d start raining again.

“I feel sorry for [head groundsman Karl McDermott] and all the groundstaff. On days like this it’s probably one of the worst jobs you can have.”

Of the situation in the Specsavers County Championship, White is keeping his feet on the ground: “Realistically I think it’s [Essex’s] to lose but if we can sneak in a couple of wins and there’s a lot of weather around, you never know.

So I’ve just asked the boys to dig deep for four games and see where it takes us and aim to finish in the top three.”

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