James Vince has reluctantly found himself centre of attention twice over the last year.

First, when he revealed his family home had been attacked twice in a bizarre case of mistaken identity. Second, when he announced this week that he was indefinitely recusing himself from County Championship duty with Hampshire, and stepping down after nine seasons as club captain.

A straight line can be drawn between the two. For all the talk of a lucrative deal in the Pakistan Super League and English cricket’s new rules over foreign franchise leagues, the decision to move abroad following the attacks – thus no longer being a UK resident, limiting the number of days he can work in the country – was behind the decision to stop playing first-class cricket. Vince, his wife Amy and seven- and four-year-old children settled on Dubai, a convenient hub for an itinerant cricketer.

“The first port of call was deciding as a family what the future looked like [after the attacks],” he tells Telegraph Sport from the UAE, where he is playing for Gulf Giants in the ILT20 league. “We wanted to get back to living in a home, and some normality having been in hotels since May.

“We got through the summer, and were in the process of selling the house, which has now completed. We decided we would spend the winter on the road as a family, starting with a good stint in Dubai. We liked the country, the safety aspect was a big draw. I knew a few people who had moved over so we had a good look at their life, some schools, what there was community-wise. We liked what we saw in terms of opportunities for the kids, education, the warm weather. We thought why not? As a family, we didn’t necessarily feel comfortable settling in the UK for a bit, so decided to give Dubai a crack.”

Vince is keen to stress that “we haven’t had to move abroad”. Nevertheless, he adds, “if we were in the UK just moving into another house, there would be some uncertainty and apprehension there, seeing if anything else would happen”.

Vince has been stoic, but the attacks were terrifying. In the second week of April last year, he and Amy woke to the sound of smashing glass and alarms on their house and cars. Having briefly moved out while repairs took place and extra security was installed, a second very similar attack happened – only this one was captured on camera. Again they moved out, but did not return. The whole experience has taken some getting over, and the family remains understandably shaken.

“We still don’t know what it was about,” he says. “We probably never will. We are fairly comfortable that it wasn’t intended for us, which helps. We’ve been reassured that nothing has happened since. Travelling the world, living in hotels has helped the kids forget about it to a certain degree, but it’s hard work getting them to sleep in their own beds sometimes. Hopefully we can get this place sorted in Dubai, get them back to living in a home, and some normality.”

As a result, Vince’s red-ball retirement – even if he is reluctant to call if that – was effectively “taken out of my hands” because of his residency. “It’s a decision we’ve made as a family and I am fitting the cricket in around that.”

Even to play in the Vitality Blast (14 matches, plus possible knockouts) and the Hundred (eight, plus knockouts) was tight given Vince’s new residency situation, and a possible 56 days of the championship became impossible. At that point, a PSL retention – thought to be worth £100,000 – became a “no-brainer”, he says, because he was not busy in April and May, the tournament’s new slot. The decision to retire from red-ball cricket coincided with the England and Wales Cricket Board’s new edict that said to play in the PSL, a player could not be contracted by his county for all formats.

Despite being a consistently outstanding performer, and perhaps the most prized wicket on the circuit, Vince could not quite guide Hampshire to their first championship title since 1973, even if they finished in the top three in each of the last three seasons, with other near-misses before that. There is sadness that it is ending now.

“I’ll miss it,” he says. “Winning the championship with Hampshire is something I was desperate to do, given we hadn’t done that for such a long time. That was one of my big career goals. And there’s nothing better than a red-ball win. Until the season starts it probably won’t hit home because I’m often playing overseas at this time of year. I’ll be watching the stream and following the scorecard and it’ll be strange not to be involved.

“I think if all this had never happened, there probably would have come a time when I would have gone white-ball only, but I doubt it would have been just yet. The decision has been made for me for now. I will miss it. I’ve not retired from red-ball cricket, the chances are that I am unlikely to be playing a full domestic season again. Maybe I could play a game or two at some stage.”

As a regular in franchise leagues – he has played in the Abu Dhabi T10, the Big Bash and ILT20 this winter – Vince admits he found the ECB’s new rules on No-Objection certificates “very strange”.

“They were trying to make decisions that feel like they are for the ICC to make,” he says. “The landscape and the crossover between competitions is not ideal. But a lot of what they said I just didn’t really understand. Take allowing red-ball players to play the IPL and not the PSL. From a cricketing position there is no logic there – the PSL is actually a shorter competition. There is probably some stuff going on behind the scenes that is having an influence on what they are doing, but without knowing what it’s quite hard to understand.”

Vince believes that “100 per cent” the rules will end up pushing more older players away from the red-ball games.

“Players will ask, ‘can I justify playing the first half of the red-ball season, if I am going to be better off by x amount?’ It’s frowned upon in sport and society to look purely at money but as guys get older you have to start thinking about that at some point, maximising your income. For the young guys still chasing higher honours, it’s not an issue, but at the other end of your career it’s normal to think like that.

“Rather than changing these rules, it would probably be better for the ECB to look at the schedule and a few other bits to help keep players in England.”

Vince is sanguine about the future. The last of his 55 England appearances came two years ago, and his decision all but confirms the closure of that door. “Had a taste, but didn’t really nail it, but very proud to have played for England and given it my best,” is his succinct verdict on an international career that saw him win a World Cup but left many asking what if? What if he had not been run out on 83 in Brisbane? What if Ed Smith had not dropped him in 2018, citing the need for more big championship scores, just days after he had made an unbeaten double hundred against Somerset.

Either way, that is for others to ask, as Vince is not the sort to dwell on the past.

“Nine months ago I wouldn’t have ever anticipated any of this happening, or having this conversation,” he says. “Life has changed fast, and we’ve had to adapt as a family, but I’m optimistic about the next chapter for my family and in my career. I’ve learnt you can’t rule anything out in life.”