Staying level-headed amidst chaos, the James Vince way [Exclusive]

James Vince's career trajectory has been an interesting one. While it has been a stop-start journey at the international level for England, he has gone on to establish himself as a sought-after T20 globetrotter today.

A little over 40 days shy of turning 34, the Cuckfield-born batter continues to pile up runs wherever he goes while assuming leadership responsibility too. It's not uncommon to see his name pop up in most franchise leagues around the world. To put things into context, he is the ninth-highest run-getter in all T20s with 11,538 runs to his credit in 403 innings.

His composure and simple approach to the game have been key factors behind his success as a leader too, having led the Gulf Giants, the team he's captaining in the International League T20 (ILT20), to glory in their very first attempt in 2023. It's not been a smooth ride this season for the Giants, however, having started off with four defeats in their first five outings.

But Vince believes the team has garnered some momentum at the right time with consecutive wins over the weekend, while admitting that they were sloppy and missed out on some key moments in the first few games. He remains hopeful of the team putting their best foot forward in the games still to come, as he opened up in a freewheeling chat with Sportskeeda on the sidelines of the ILT20.

"It’s been a little bit up and down. A bit scrappy but it was a big weekend for us to get back-to-back wins and to keep our tournament alive going into the back end of the competition was really important. It was a bit of a stop-start but the dressing room has been given a big boost with the back-to-back wins over the weekend," Vince says.

"We’re level on points with a number of other teams and all to play for with three games to go. Hopefully we’ve got our worst cricket out of the way. I think even though we won the games over the weekend we’ve got more quality where we can start dominating a couple of games. Hopefully we’ve got our best cricket still to play," he added.

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"Try and be as level-headed as possible" - James Vince and the art of leadership

Vince has made a happy habit of pocketing trophies wherever he goes on the T20 circuit. He has been at the helm of glory for the Giants, the Southern Brave in the Men's Hundred, and Hampshire in the T20 Blast.

And though not their captain, he has been a pivotal cog and a leader in the Sydney Sixers' run into the knockouts every year since his first appearance for the Men in Magenta in 2018-19, including two title wins in 2019-20 and 2020-21.

So what's that one quality as a leader that Vince has a zero-compromise attitude towards?

"I don’t know, really. The only real thing is to try and be as level-headed as possible. If you are struggling a little bit as a team and you show too much frustration or panic and make people kind of fear making more mistakes (it's not ideal). You’ve got to try and keep encouraging them to go and showcase what they can do, keep the belief within themselves. I try not to get too up and down. I also don’t like to take too much credit (laughs)," he said.

"Although choosing when people bowl ultimately comes down to how well your team is performing. There are certain tactical decisions you make on the field but I don’t look at those as major decisions just because I’m used to doing them. I think the main thing is just maintaining a level head and making sure people don’t get too up and down with results and just keeping the belief and confidence within the group," Vince explained.

One of only four men to have led in 200 or more T20s - MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, and Daren Sammy being the other three - very few would understand the volatility of a franchise T20 competition like Vince does. He was certainly well placed then to keep the morale in the Giants' dressing room high after a disappointing start to their ongoing season.

James Vince in action for Gulf Giants against Desert Vipers earlier this ILT20 season (Picture Credits: Gulf Giants).

While acknowledging his role towards the same, Vince credited the support staff for doing their bit in that regard too in what is a rather crammed tournament with little recovery time between games.

"The schedule’s been quite hectic. Training days have been few and far between. But when we’ve got an opportunity to go and work on our games, we try to make use of our time as well as we can to make improvements for the games coming up. I think it’s about keeping the belief and back the quality in our squad to be able to turn things around. As I say, the games at the end are really important in doing that for us," he said.

"The guys are doing their best. While it’s disappointing to lose I think the response has been really good and everyone has stuck together and kept the belief going. Without that you’re going to struggle. Everyone’s tried to remain positive, try to get a little bit better and try to have a positive impact on the team," Vince elaborated.

A tightly packed points table sees the Giants on six points from seven matches - much like the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders and MI Emirates at the time of having this conversation (MIE have since registered a huge win over table-toppers Desert Vipers). Acknowledging that the level of competitiveness has shot up this season, Vince heaped praise on the quality of the ILT20, saying:

"The first year of the competition, it was a bit unknown. People were getting used to playing in the three stadiums that we use, how the tournament’s run, the scheduling - all that type of stuff. It definitely feels a lot more established now. For the guys that have been here for three years, you’re much more accustomed to what venues and what conditions you come up against at each venue. Obviously opposition teams, there are new faces every year but there are also the same faces in some teams so you get to understand the opposition a bit better."

Turning up for the third year on the bounce as captain of the Giants, Vince has had the chance to rub shoulders with and play against some of the UAE's brightest young prospects who he believes have been improving with each passing year.

"If you look at Aayan (Afzal Khan) in our team and the impact he’s had, some of the players he’s got out, the roles he’s played for us has been magnificent. He’s obviously still very young but I think he’s grown massively and hopefully his belief and confidence has grown in his own abilities because he’s shown that he can compete with some of the best players in the world," he said.

"Not just him, there are other players around the league as well who have grown and have just had the opportunity to play a competition that’s full of international quality. Obviously there are still a lot of spots for overseas players so the standard of cricket itself is very high and for those guys to get the opportunity now to playing key roles in some of the sides is great to see," says the Giants skipper.

The period on either side of Christmas has become a busy one for Vince. A household name at the Sixers, it's three years in a row now that he's jetted across to the UAE for the ILT20 and hit the ground running after a short turnaround.

From the bounce of Australia to the more sluggish conditions in the UAE, conditions are as contrasting as they could get. But Vince attributes his prior experience and the fact that they play at just the three venues - Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah - aiding in adjusting quickly to conditions. Vince said:

"The big positive of playing here is the lack of travel and not having to fly around in between games. Although the games come thick and fast you are able to set up camp in your hotel and not have to worry about checking in and out of hotels and flying around. Going from one competition to another, I had a bit of a break before the Big Bash."

He continued:

"I was able to freshen up, play some cricket there which was a good lead-up coming over here. I’ve had to make a fairly quick adjustment with time zones and stuff like that but it’s something we’ve become used to doing, going from one league to another."

Along the journey towards establishing himself as a respected leader, Vince has had the opportunity to work with some of the finest T20 coaches. That includes Andy Flower, the coach of the Giants who Vince joined forces with to orchestrate their title triumph in 2023. And the skipper showered praise on the Zimbabwean legend's tactical acumen.

He said:

"Andy’s just very thorough. He likes to make sure we’re doing everything possible to make sure we’re not surprised by anything and we’ve prepared as well as we can. It’s all the controllable stuff, making sure we look at the opposition, we look at how we play. He’s just very thorough, he’s a very good cricket brain with loads of experience."

"Our discussions surround selection a lot of the time and then the individual coaches come to pick up on the analysis side of things looking at the opposition. He’s pretty easy to work with, he’s got a wealth of experience, very good at handling the ups and downs, and remains pretty level. All in all, pretty easy to work with and someone with a lot of knowledge that I can tap into," Vince added.

Vince has also had the opportunity to rub shoulders with another man manager of immense repute, Stephen Fleming, at the Southern Brave.

"Again a really enjoyable guy to work with," says Vince about Fleming. "Very light-hearted, has his values around the game. A very respected man as is Andy. Probably they work slightly differently but just the amount of experience and respect that people have for those guys is enormous and it’s been great to have the opportunity to work alongside both of them," Vince explained.

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Embracing new beginnings with fresh hope

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) recently revised their NOC policy that would limit the extent to which their players feature in T20 leagues outside the IPL. The move clearly didn't go down well with some of their players and in a landmark move, Vince recently made his decision to give up red-ball cricket for the 2025 season to feature in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in April and May.

But there was a bigger factor behind Vince making that decision. Recent times have been turbulent for the Vince family with his house in Southampton being attacked twice last year, and they are in the process of relocating to Dubai.

"My decision wasn’t just around the NOC policy. I’m moving over to Dubai with the fam. I couldn’t then spend that amount of time in the UK. Obviously four-day cricket takes up a lot of time and I don’t have those days available to me in the UK. It’s the timing of it - you can interpret the decision as NOC but the real reason was moving over here as a family," Vince said.

Asked if more cricketers could follow suit though in the advent of opportunities aplenty on the T20 franchise landscape, Vince agreed to the possibility, saying:

"I think it could lead to other players - purely from a cricketing point of view and financial point of view - making that decision but there’s lots of opportunities for white ball players to play all around the year now and if they’re going to be denied that opportunity and the benefits of playing four-day cricket don’t match up to the opportunities of playing franchise cricket then yeah, I assume more people will prioritize franchise cricket."

"Guys who still have aspirations to play Test cricket for England are going to continue playing red ball cricket. If there are guys who don’t have ambitions to play Test cricket and there’s white ball cricket available to them then I guess you will see more people start to choose the franchise competitions over red ball cricket," he added.

Having spent all his life in the United Kingdom, a new chapter in life beckons for Vince and his young family. But it is one that they are looking at as "an opportunity" as they embrace life in Dubai.

He continued:

"It’s a big decision but one that we spent a bit of time deliberating. We’re just excited to get over here. We haven’t moved into a house yet but hopefully that happens over the next month or so. We’re just looking forward to settling into life over here, getting the kids sorted into school and getting their education sorted out.

"We’ve enjoyed spending time in Dubai whenever we’ve been here. I think there are great opportunities for us as a family and obviously for my cricket stuff. It’s a good place to be based out of to be to access various stuff around the world. We don’t know how long it’ll last but we’re just looking forward to getting back to normal life albeit in a new country and looking forward to the opportunities presenting themselves to us out here in Dubai," Vince concluded.

Much like his approach to the game, one can bet on Vince's level-headedness to come through as he transitions into this new beginning.