I honestly thought he’d get there. He was just six runs short – that’s one top edged Pietersen hook off Brett Lee away – from scoring a maiden test hundred. It was impossible not to feel completely gutted for the bloke.
I like Denly. Everyone’s warmed to Jack Leach because he’s an ordinary Joe. But Denly’s no different. And he’s actually called Joe.
England’s new / old opener seems so unassuming and modest. And behind that serious demeanour lurks a dry sense of humour. He looks a bit like John Squire from The Stone Roses. But most of all he reminds me of snooker great Steve Davis. And there’s no greater Brit than the Romford Slim.
Denly’s innings today was a study in girt and bloody mindedness. He was rarely fluent. But when he did occasionally middle the ball he looked just as elegant as a James Vince or Michael Vaughan. You can see why Ed Smith loves him so much. It’s that orthodox languidness that made me love him as a young prospect all those years ago.
And yet questions will still be asked. Conventional thinkers will assume that he’s booked his place on England’s winter tours for sure now. He probably has. But I’m not 100% convinced.
Denly led a very charmed life today on a good batting pitch with clear blue skies overhead. He could, and perhaps should, have been dismissed three or four times during his watch. There was the dropped catch at the end of day 2, an lbw that really should have been given (or reviewed), and he was beaten several times on both the outside and inside edges. And heaven knows how he wasn’t bowled by Siddle a few deliveries before he eventually succumbed.
It’s worth remembering that James Vince scored 76 in his last test innings at Christchurch. But he was dropped anyway because when the selectors took stock at the end of England’s winter they judged him on a body of evidence rather than his last innings.
Vince had shone in Christchurch, he scored 83 at Brisbane, and a useful 55 at Perth. In fact, he made single figure scores just twice over the whole winter. But Ed Smith decided there were too many starts and not enough match-defining innings to keep faith.
Although I’m tempted to say that Ed Smith loves to do the unconventional – and there’s nothing more unconventional than dropping a player after he’s made a good score – Denly has the advantage of being a Smith man, rather than a James Whitaker man, so I expect him to survive. However, sadly I don’t think Denly’s knock today will be enough to silence his doubters.
Personally I’m torn. I really am. I get both sides of the argument. At 33 years old Joe Denly is not the future. But he could be a sensible stopgap until younger players are ready.
But if England persist with Joe then where will he bat? Most people assumed that Dominic Sibley (or perhaps even Zak Crawley) might open with Rory Burns this winter. Should a man who will be pushing 35 when the next Ashes comes around stand in the way of another player who’s young enough to play one hundred times for England?
However, nobody knows at this point whether Sibley or Crawley will cut the mustard. England have been searching for a dogged opener for years and now we’ve found one it seems stupid to throw an asset away. And who’s to say that Denly won’t be able to show stickability in his mid-thirties? Graham Gooch was at his peak then.
Sometimes t’s easy to forget that this Australian bowling attack is probably the best in the world. Most of England’s batsmen have struggled. And yet somehow Joe Denly has managed to score three half centuries at an average of 31. That’s obviously not great but it’s no worse than the skipper’s mustered.
What’s more he’s improved as the series has gone on. Denly hasn’t been worked out. Instead the Australians have found him increasingly tricky to dismiss. That’s a very good sign. Perhaps you can teach an old dog new tricks after all?
So where does the game stand after Denly’s vigil? I’m happy to report that England are still in pole position and we should – should! – win the game from here. A lead of 382 is substantial. And it will take something pretty special for this flawed Australian batting unit to chase it down. If I was them I’d open with Steve Smith so he doesn’t run out of partners!
Having said that, England had the opportunity to put the game completely beyond the Canary Yellows’ reach at 222-3 and then 279-5. What a shame that we lost 5-83 in the late afternoon sun. A more confident (dare I say it competent) batting team would’ve ground the opposition into the dust on that pitch and under those skies. There wasn’t a hint of swing all day.
Let’s hope our generosity doesn’t cost us. I’m confident that it won’t, but I bet the Aussies were similarly confident at Leeds.
Actually let’s not go there. It’s in the bag. Honest guv.
James Morgan
We could always have Denly in the middle order where he’s best and have Sibley opening with Burns. Probably no room for Pope if we do that though.
Australia have never been afraid to play their over 30’s – Chris Rogers, Adam Voges to name but two….so why do we always have this search for 20 year olds. Isn’t there a case for letting them mature (as cricketers) ?
I’m afraid he’s run his race. He doesn’t handle the short ball well enough to even consider the Ashes down under next time around, so why bother seeing any more of him this winter?
Would you keep him around the squad or move on completely? Maybe there’s room for him as a utility player? He can bat almost anywhere. That might save a place in the squad for another bowler or keeper. But yes I do think he might struggle with the short stuff down under.
The ECB has a lot to answer for!
I’m glad you agree
Denly never seems convincing to me, but he has shown an ability to learn which not many others have. I am esepcially impressed that he has soaked up more and more deliveries as the series went on; and that has made things much easier for those coming after. I would certainly take him on the tour. He may be useful in getting Root (no longer captain, I hope) back down to 4, where Root can (if protected by the top three) do the most damage.
Buttler and Bairstow need to be dropped from the Test side, which will make space for specialist red ball batters.
Agreed. He has spent 12 years in county cricket facing largely 2nd Division 81mph county attacks and in the last 6 months has been chucked in to face the pace of the West Indies and then the best pace attack in the world where unerring accuracy is added to the pace. Isn’t it inevitable that the habits ingrained over the last decade would take some time to be overcome.
He deserves massive credit for 3 half centuries in 3 matches, all in difficult circumstances where the team needed him to make runs and bat time. That being said I can’t work out whether this is his ceiling and it might not get any better, but he certainly deserves to go on the winter tour, either as an opener or a number 3.
It was ugly at times and looked like grim survival at points, but grim and ugly survival is better than England have had in their top 3 for some time….
Joe’s an interesting one.
I personally would stick with him, and possibly drop him to three depending on if they want to try one of Sibley or Crawley. That would also allow Root to move down to four. An experienced phlegmatic individual in the top order is handy.
The main difference between Denly and Vince is that Denly has visibly worked on his weaknesses and tightened up, whereas my beloved Vincey just did not tighten up outside that off stump.
The other thing about Denly is that he seems to be very low maintenance, and in a team where people are hurling toys out of prams about batting orders and keeping gloves, that’s a useful quality to have.
I think he’s done okay in the opening slot, I think the priority is to find a number 3 and get Root back to 4. I think he’s bought time for himself while England can then look at the rest of the line up, I’d say Denly has a massive year ahead of him where he needs to deliver some big runs, but he does at least look like he’ll be able to hang in there without making match winning contributions. Drop Bairstow and play Buttler at 6, new wk at 7. Buttler is in last chance saloon and has shown just enough improvement last 3 test matches after a horrific ashes series up to that point. He has been making changes and grafted away to make something, whereas Bairstow just makes the same mistakes innings after innings and shrugs his shoulders
Just think it’s a backwards step.
If someone gets put into the test side in their mid 30s they have to be good off the shelf. There is no point trying to groom a player already possibly on the decline.
Head held high and all that but we should be moving on. His test record isn’t good enough and he constantly looks like getting out. If he was 24 there would be plenty to work with but he isn’t. Keeping him around just says to me we are happy to be mediocre. We need to find players with the potential to be good.
Don’t have any objection to taking him on tour as suspect he would be a handy reserve bat who won’t let anyone down or take a strop if not picked. But we should be looking for someone else for first choice.
Well 3x 50s in this side is pretty good. Unless they try someone new I don’t see anyone else putting their hands up for the number 2 slot.
Is it wise to debut Sibley away from home. Surely it would make sense to preserve him until next home summer to debut in conditions he is used to. If Denly holds the opening spot over winter with Burns, then come summer, he can shift down to three and Sibley can open. On the middle order, I don’t think we should be bringing Pope back yet but definitely Foakes for either Buttler or Bairstow. If the one that continues only continues to fail, then our honoured Moeen may as well have his place back, as he can bat as well, and turn his arm over a time or two.