James Vince disappointed over cancellation of England's tour to Pakistan

• Vince also gave vote-of-confidence to arrangements in Pakistan, saying that his feedback about touring Pakistan was always positive.
• "We've seen the quality of the security and I've never felt any risk while being here," says Vince.
• He expresses his delight upon knowing that there will be full house in Lahore for the 2nd phase of PSL matches.

KARACHI: England cricket team’s batter James Vince has said that it was “disappointing” that England’s scheduled tour to Pakistan in 2021 for two T20Is didn’t go ahead as planned.

In an exclusive interview with Geo News, the 30-year-old cricketer also gave a vote of confidence to arrangements in Pakistan and said that his feedback about touring Pakistan was always positive.

“As players, we don't have any say in those decisions, that's the people above us. The people in charge and security make those decisions. We only get told the decision without any answers. It was disappointing that it didn't go ahead,” he said when asked about the decision by ECB to call-off Pakistan’s tour.

Only three months after the tour cancellation, 24 cricketers from England decided to visit Pakistan to play the seventh edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and Vince is one of them who arrived in Pakistan after playing the series against West Indies.

“There's quite a number of English guys that come to play in the PSL. Once they get back home, they share their positive experiences. I'm sure all the other guys that come here and experience the cricket and the crowds share positive experiences as well. It really is positive in my point of view,” he said.

He further added: "I've seen the quality of the security here and I've never felt any risk while being here. I can only speak from personal experience that I've never had any issues. They obviously go out of their way to make sure that there's tough security and that everything is in place."

James Vince — who has represented England in 13 Tests, 19 ODIs and 17 T20Is — hoped to be part of England’s squad when it tours Pakistan to play seven T20Is ahead of the T20 World Cup this year.

“I'd love the opportunity to come back here and play with England against Pakistan. Hopefully, COVID would calm down by then and we can have proper spectators in the ground," he said.

Recalling his experience when he played for Multan Sultans, Vince said: "We experienced full houses, the atmosphere was incredible at that time. England being back here and hopefully playing in front of full houses would provide quite a special atmosphere and hopefully something I can be involved in." 

Vince is part of Quetta Gladiators’ squad in PSL. He played two matches in Karachi and played an unbeaten knock of 49 against Lahore Qalandars’ in the last match of the first phase of the PSL 7.

He expressed his delight upon knowing that there will be a full house in Lahore for the 2nd phase of PSL matches.

“Even with small capacity here in Pakistan, they can be very loud. The more people, the better the atmosphere. This adds a little bit extra [excitement] to the game, it makes it more entertaining and more fun to play in,” he said while hoping that his side will continue the momentum it got in its last match in Karachi’s leg of the PSL.

Praising the bowling standards in PSL, the England cricketer said that despite smaller boundaries, the bowling in PSL makes the competition even for all.

“The boundary size is quite small. So, the batters have gotten an advantage from that point of view but we know Pakistan is blessed with a lot of very good bowling options, particularly young quick bowlers. The standard of bowling is very high and it makes it more even,” he said.

“From the skills point of view, there's a lot of very good players involved in Pakistan cricket at the minute and I think that's probably reflected on the performances in the T20 World Cup back in October. The competition in the PSL as a whole is very good competition,” he added.

When asked about his views on spending life in a bio-secure bubble due to the COVID pandemic, the cricketer said that it's not easy.

“Sometimes as cricketers, we can be perceived to live the best life. And we do most of the time, we get to go and play cricket for a living, experience different countries and cultures. However, since COVID, it's made it a lot tougher to do.

"Having no escape from your room and not being able to mix with other people and get away from cricket when you're doing it constantly, you feel very restricted. Being told that you can do something or go somewhere, it does start to weigh you down,” he highlighted.

Vince further said: “I've got a bit of a break after this tournament. As it makes it much harder for families to be able to travel with you during COVID because they can't get visas or you're only allowed in the country if you're working. You also spend a lot less time with your family. So, if you're doing it non-stop, it gets very tough,” he concluded.