Man of the match is ‘delighted’ to be back

JOE Denly was named man of the match against Sri Lanka after ending an eight-year exile.

Speaking after the match, Denly said: “It has been quite a while since I was in England colours and I am delighted to be back and contributing to the win, so yeah, very happy.”

When asked about his nerves on his return to the international scene, he replied: “Yeah there were a few nerves there, no doubt about that, but more excitement than anything.

“Like you say it has been a long time and I have been really looking forward to it.”

On batting down the order compared to his position as an opener for county side Kent, Denly added: “It was a new experience for me and against one of the best bowlers in the world at the death, it was tricky but I managed to contribute a bit and I was happy to get us up to a decent score.”

He added about his bowling: “I think I land my leg-spinner generally pretty well. I think being predominantly a batter, I have a good sense of what the batter is going to try and do and I think that helps certainly batting at the top of the order.”

Denly now has his eyes on being picked to play in the Test series.

He added: “I think being able to bowl certainly might help my case.

“With a couple of warmup games pre-Test series I might be able to perform there and put my name in the hat.”

After the match, England captain Eoin Morgan said: “I thought it was an outstanding comeback by Joe Denly tonight.

“Nine years ago he came into the side as an opening batsman and he has come back as a very good allrounder.

“He has taken on some serious roles there today which guys find it difficult to do when they come into the international scene, so hats off to him.”

Morgan added: “This year at Kent, he has almost had a bit of a Gary Sobers year - he has done absohas everything and been a big threat with the ball along with Matt Henry, so it feels very comfortable to give him the new ball.”