Joseph Liam Denly (born March 16, 1986) is an English cricketer who plays for the Kent County Cricket Club. He is a right-handed batsman and the occasional leg-break bowler who plays as a top-notch batsman. Denly played age-group cricket for Kent and began his professional career in the county before moving to Middlesex for three seasons between 2012 and 2014.

Domestic career

Denly played for the Kent County Cricket Club at any age and was a member of the county's cricket academy. He made his first-class cricket debut for the county in 2004 against Oxford University at the age of 18, before playing his first county championship match against Gloucestershire the following season.

At the end of the 2005 season, his contract was extended. Denly achieved his first professional century in 2007, carrying his racket for 115 out of a Kent total of just 199 against Hampshire in Canterbury. Denly was named to the England Lions squad for the game against India in July, making 83 of 90 balls. In his first season he launched 1,000 top-notch runs.

In the domestic 2018 season, Denly topped the MVP rankings in the Royal London Cup and T20 Blast and won the overall MVP award. He signed a contract renewal during the season and scored centuries in both one-day competitions, setting a new List A record for Kent with a score of 150 against Glamorgan at Canterbury and becoming the first player in Any Form of against Surrey at The Oval T20 cricket to hit a century and get a hat trick in the same game.

During the season, he posted three championship centuries, scoring 1,729 runs and bowling much more frequently than in the past, winning 57 wickets in all formats of the game, including 23 in the County Championship with a bowling average of 18.5. At the end of the season, he was named Player of the Year at the Professional Cricketers' Association Awards, beating teammate Matt Henry and Surrey batsman Rory Burns, and making his first call since 2010.

International career

Denly played for England's U17 to U19 age groups and in 2005 scored three half centuries in consecutive games for the U19s in India. He was the captain of the ECB Development of Excellence team and played for England Lions for the first time in 2007. He was called up to the English squad for the One Day International (ODI) series against Australia on August 17, 2009 and made his international debut in the ODI- Game against Ireland on August 27, 2009. He opened the innings and scored the highest score with 67 points.

Denly made his international Twenty20 debut against Australia on August 30, 2009, although the result was a golden duck. The same result was achieved in his second Twenty20 against South Africa. He injured his knee during a soccer warm-up before a game against Australia in 2009 and missed the first three games of the ODI series.

In April 2019 he was named to England's provisional squad for the 2019 World Cricket Championship. The following month Denly played in his first ODI game in ten years in the one-off game against Ireland in Malahide.

On May 21, 2019, England determined their squad for the World Cup, with Denly not being named in the last 15-man team. In May, Denly was named to a group of 55 players to start training ahead of international games during the COVID-19 pandemic. and in June it was selected to join England's 30-man squad to train behind closed doors for the test series against the West Indies. He went on to play in the first Test of the series before being replaced for the second game after England captain Joe Root returned.