Vinciness

Martin Chandler | 8:33am BST 10 May 2026

Published: 2026
Pages: 83
Author: Hotten, Jon
Publisher: Arrangements of White on Green Books
Rating: 4 stars

I am sure that many people fall into exactly the same trap that I did when I first saw this book. It is a combination of the image of the batsman on the cover and what he is doing, the fact that John Hotten is the writer and, above all, the use of the title Vinciness and indeed the subtitle, or The Unbearable Sadness of Batting.

It must have been deliberate, of course, and the image is strengthened by the alternative definitions of Vinciness that are given. The first is the state of being immersed in the beauty of a game, and the second is to describe a moment of promise cut short by carelessness or recklessness or bad luck.

Which seemed to me to make things obvious – it has to be a book about James Vince, doesn’t it?

It isn’t, of course, and, to be fair to John Hotten, his very first chapter is titled This is not a Book about James Vince, although maybe that is a book that Hotten will one day tackle. After all, he has so far gone to the assistance of Simon Jones and Sir Geoffrey Boycott and produced two very fine books. Vince’s story too would be well worth reading, although perhaps not quite yet.

So what is the book? Pretty brief is one point, but it features some interesting people, George Best, Tiger Woods, John Arlott, Neville Cardus, baseballer Bill Buckner and artist David Inshaw to name just a few. Plenty of cricketers get a credit or a name check too, but the name that crops up most often, even though the book is not about him, is that of James Vince.

Vince is a man who divides opinion. There are many who accuse him of flattering to deceive, but that isn’t a view I have ever subscribed to, and nor does Hotten. To us Vince is a gifted batsmen who is a joy to watch but who, for a variety of reasons, some unfortunate and others self-inflicted, has a habit of coming up just short. I can remember in particular announcing to anyone that would listen that in the 2017/18 Ashes he would come of age as a Test batsman – he didn’t of course but, as he always did, he had his moments.

Thus the word ‘Vinciness’, which it has to be said certainly strikes me as one that merits a place in the Oxford English Dictionary, has been conjured up to define the joy and/or disappointment inspired by the batting of James Vince. It then serves as a vehicle that allows Hotten to take his reader on a discursive and philosophical journey around that definition. Thanks to Hotten’s skill as a writer it is a comfortable ride, so in that respect at least it is not like an innings from James Vince.

A word too for the talents of Dan Toomey, who is responsible for the memorable artwork that appears on the front cover and further examples of which introduce five of the six chapters. Something unexpected but another excellent touch is the one thing I didn’t expect, a statistical appendix, but certainly not in any way a conventional one – I think I understand the point Hotten is making with that but, just in case I don’t, I will keep that thought to myself.

The bad news is that the limited edition of 102* signed and numbered copies has already sold out, but the good is that a paperback edition will be available from 2 June. How you will get a copy is also something I can help with, at least in the sense that I can point you in the direction of the social media platform formerly known as twitter, where @theoldbatsmean will doubtless keep you informed.

*James Vince’s one international century was his 102 against Pakistan at Edgbaston in 2021 although, lest we forget, this is not a book about James Vince.