Joe Denly

Joe Denly is an English cricketer born in Canterbury, Kent on 16 March 1986. He is a right-handed top order batsman. He has been selected in England’s preliminary squad for the World Cup 2019.

Background

Joe began playing professional cricket in Kent. He represented Kent in all age group cricket. He was also a part of their cricket academy.

His domestic career began in Kent as well. He scored more than 1000 runs in his first season. He was selected to play for the England Lions as well. He made his name in the domestic arena while playing for his hometown club.

However, he moved to Middlesex in 2012 after playing 7 years for Kent. His career form dipped in the three years that he played for his new club. He then decided to move back to Kent.

This change brought a change in his form as well. He bettered his previous high score of 199 and registered his maiden double hundred in First Class cricket.

Since then, he has been playing for Kent.

Debut

Joe Denly made his international debut way back in 2009. His first international game was an ODI against Ireland at Civil Service Cricket Club in Belfast on 27 August 2009. England scored 203/9 in their 50 overs. Denly opened the batting and registered a half-century. He scored 67 runs off 111 balls including 3 boundaries. The second innings was shortened because of rain and Ireland lost the game by 3 runs scoring 112/9 in 20 overs.

Three days after playing the lone ODI against Ireland, Joe made his T20I debut against Australia at Old Trafford in Manchester on 30 August 2009. Australia set England a target of 146. Denly was out on the first ball caught by Nathan Hauritz off Brett Lee. Only seven balls were possible in the innings before rain washed out the game.

After a long break at the top level, Denly made his Test debut 10 years after his international debut. He played the second Test against Windies at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua which commenced on 31 January 2019. England was bowled out for 187 in the first innings. Denly scored just 6. Windies got a first innings lead of 119 runs. England was bowled out for just 132 in the second innings. Denly could get only 17. Windies openers chased down the 17 runs without breaking a sweat. Windies won the game by 10 wickets.

Club career

In County Cricket Championship, he represented Kent from 2004 to 2011. He then shifted to Middlesex which did not prove any good to him. He returned back to his first club in 2014 and is with them since.

Joe played for the Barisal Burners (now known as Barisal Bulls) in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) in 2013. He did not play the BPL for the next three years. However, in 2017, he represented the Dhaka Dynamites. He played six matches in the season. The Dynamites were the runners up in 2017.

He also had a stint with the Brother Union team which plays List A cricket in the Dhaka Premier League.

Joe played for the Sydney Sixers in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons of the Big Bash League. In the 2017/18 season, he played just 4 matches and scored 146 runs at an average of 73.00.

He then joined the Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League. He amassed 323 runs in 12 matches for the Kings and was the fourth highest run-getter in the tournament.

He made his IPL debut in 2019 when Kolkata Knight Riders picked up in the mini-auction.