ENGLAND Lions captain Jonathan Trott lavished praise on Hampshire’s James Vince for the major recovery role he played in the first unofficial Test against South Africa A.

Trott made an unbeaten 211(403 balls, 17 fours) as the Lions drew in Paarl, but it may have been a different story had it not been for his 165-run stand with Vince.

The Hampshire batsman’s 78 (171 balls, 12 fours) ensured that the Lions recovered from 67-3 and helped lay the foundation for their formidable 624-8 declared in reply to South Africa A’s 504-8 declared.

“Vince’s innings was very good. He came in on Monday night when the pressure was on and we had a good partnership,” Trott said.

“He batted very fluently, playing shots all around the wicket.

“James didn’t get many runs in the warm-up game in Soweto- to be fair, we hadn’t long got off the plane - but the sign of a class player is to put that behind you, to come into an A-Test and do well.”

Trott admitted he hadn’t seen much of Vince for the past two years – but was hugely impressed.

“From the time I first time I saw him he’s looked a fantastic player,” Trott continued.

“I’ve obviously not seen too much of him in the past couple of seasons, but it’s good to see him developing and coming on Lions’ tours like this will help that development.

“James has always been earmarked as a potential England player. He’s got good technique and temperament, so it’s all about putting his game together and continuing to score plenty of runs for Hampshire.

“Hopefully he can continue to do that and will go on and play for the full England side.”

Trott praised both Vince and Jonny Bairstow “for taking the pressure off me.”

“The attacking nature of their respective games took the pressure off and allowed me to rotate the strike and basically hold an end up, which was essentially my job,” he said.

Captaining the Lions in South Africa is clearly part of Trott’s main plan to regain his spot in the England Test side, which he left immediately after the opening Brisbane defeat of the disastrous Ashes tour last winter.

“It’s a case of my doing the process right. Doing a Lions tour and earning the right to play for England again, that’s what it’s all about.

“I’ve said I want to play for England again. Being here is all part of earning my stripes again.

“I don’t think I’m any further away or any nearer, I’m just playing cricket and hopefully earning my spot back in the Test team.”