England pair James Vince and Jason Roy go head-to-head for a place in the Australian Big Bash League final

James Vince goes head-to-head with England colleague Jason Roy this weekend as the Australian Big Bash T20 League enters its play-off phase.
James Vince in recent BBL action for the Sydney Sixers against the Melbourne Renegades. Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images.James Vince in recent BBL action for the Sydney Sixers against the Melbourne Renegades. Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images.
James Vince in recent BBL action for the Sydney Sixers against the Melbourne Renegades. Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images.

They are two of their generation’s finest one-day batsmen, and both are easily capable of playing an explosive innings to take their side a step nearer the silverware.

Vince’s Sydney Sixers – the defending champions – take on Roy’s Perth Scorchers in a knock-out tie on Saturday with the winners progressing straight into the final a week later.

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However, under the play-off rules, the losers will get another chance to qualify for the final next Thursday!

Jason Roy in batting action for the Perth Scorchers earlier this week. Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images.Jason Roy in batting action for the Perth Scorchers earlier this week. Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images.
Jason Roy in batting action for the Perth Scorchers earlier this week. Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images.

Vince and Roy have a very similar record in the shortest form of the game.

For Hampshire alone, Vince has scored 3,930 runs in 139 innings with an average of 31.95.

For Surrey, Roy has struck 3,183 runs from 107 innings at 30.90.

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Vince’s career T20 average is 29.69, compared to Roy’s 27.87.

It must be remembered, though, that Roy has played 38 T20 internationals (averaging 23.42) while Vince has only played 12 (av 28.33).

Vince also boasts a higher career average in List A matches - 39.87 to Roy’s 37.80.

Again, though, the Surrey man has played far more international games. Roy has made 89 ODI appearances, compared to Vince’s 16.

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And it is here that the greatest divide between the two men is clearly illustrated.

While Vince averages just 23.00 from 14 ODI innings with a highest score of 51, Roy averages 40.03 with nine centuries and a highest score of 180 - the best in English ODI history (against Australia in 2017/18).

Roy, of course, was part of the England team that won the World Cup in 2019 while the general consensus among English cricket fans is that Vince has failed to make the most of his ample opportunities across all formats.

The Hampshire skipper has played in 13 Tests, 16 ODIs and 12 T20 internationals, and the question is this - how many more chances will he get?

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In terms of the T20 scene, the likes of skipper Eoin Morgan, Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Tom Banton are all above him in the pecking order ahead of the World Cup later this year.

The benefits for his county are obvious. The more England squads Vince is left out of, the more chances he has of playing for Hampshire.

Over the past decade, there have been few English players as consistently good as Vince in T20 cricket.

In the 2015 Blast competition, he struck a staggering 710 runs at 59.16.

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That established a new seasonal record that still stands, beating the 677-run haul that Roy had set 12 months earlier.

(Roy, in turn, had beaten the 668-run record set by Hampshire’s Jimmy Adams in 2010, which remains the third highest seasonal best in T20 Blast history).

Vince will enter the 2021 Blast as the tournament’s fourth highest run scorer since its inception in 2003 - he has 3,826 runs at 32.98.

That’s a better average than Roy (30.90) and also Alex Hales (29.19), the England outcast who topped the Big Bash League group run charts in 2020/21 for Sydney Thunder.

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It is those sort of statistics which only add to the frustration many Hampshire followers must feel with regards to Vince’s international averages.

Regarding this season’s BBL, Roy is enjoying better form than Vince.

He is averaging 35.20 after scoring 352 runs in 11 innings, compared to Vince’s 344 runs from 13 innings at 26.46.

Two of Vince’s former Ageas Bowl colleagues could also have a major role in this weekend’s play-off clash at the Manuka Oval in Canberra.

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Dan Christian has played some crucial innings in the middle order to help the Sixers top the qualifying group.

The 37-year-old won man of the match awards against Adelaide Strikers (50 off just 16 balls with four fours and five sixes) and Brisbane Heat (61 not out off 38 balls).

Christian also struck an unbeaten 49 off 23 deliveries to help Sixers beat Melbourne Stars in their final group game off the penultimate ball of the game.

Colin Munro, meanwhile, top scored for the Scorchers in the group with 411 runs.

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The New Zealand batsman played for Hampshire in the T20 Blast in 2018, scoring two half-centuries in eight innings.

Munro generally comes in at No 3 for the Scorchers with Roy and Lancashire’s Liam Livingstone providing an all-English opening partnership.