DEREK PRINGLE

In the recent past the Gabba Test has set the tone for the rest of the Ashes, so a misstep tends to be a bad omen for the team making it. So too, in the way that Russian dolls fit together, has the first day of the series, sometimes the first ball, usually shaped the result of that match. On that basis, James Vince has every right to be pleased, as should those who stuck their necks out to see him selected.
Plenty of coaches and players talk about going with their ‘gut’ despite this age of number-crunching analysis. And so it is with Vince. Before the Gabba, whe...