Why is Joe Denly not playing today’s first ODI between England and Ireland in Southampton?

Joe Denly not playing today’s match: England are playing their first ODI at home after the final match of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

During the first ODI of the ongoing Ireland’s tour of England in Southampton, England captain Eoin Morgan has won the toss and invited the visitors in to bat.

It is worth mentioning that the last five ODI contests between these two teams witnessed Ireland batting first and losing the match on four occasions with one match being abandoned due to rain.

In Curtis Campher and Harry Tector, Ireland have handed ODI debuts to two players as they are all set to begin their second ODI series under captain Andrew Balbirnie.

ICC Men’s World Cup Super League kicks off with this match as well!! #ENGvIRE

— Thusi (@thusi_c) July 30, 2020

Why is Joe Denly not playing today’s first ODI?

It was during the toss that Morgan opened up on batsman Joe Denly not featuring in their Playing XI for this match as he had suffered an injury during practice on the eve of the match. “Joe [Denly] went down in training yesterday,” Morgan said during the toss.

Denly, who was part of England’s Test squad for the series against West Indies, was released during the last Test to join the 24-member training group in Southampton.

Denly, 34, was England’s highest run-scorer on the back of scoring 153 runs in two innings at an average of 76.50 and a strike rate of 84.06 during their last ODI series in South Africa earlier this year. Had it not been for the injury, Denly was expected to bat at No. 5 in the ODI side.

Wicket-keeper batsman Sam Billings, who last played an ODI against Australia in Cardiff more than two years ago, has replaced Denly in the final XI. Apart from Denly, England have also left out all-rounder Liam Dawson and fast bowler Reece Topley for this match.

England XI – 1) Jason Roy 2) Jonny Bairstow (wk) 3) James Vince 4) Eoin Morgan (c) 5) Sam Billings 6) Tom Banton 7) Moeen Ali 8) David Willey 9) Tom Curran 10) Adil Rashid 11) Saqib Mahmood.

Ireland XI – 1) Paul Stirling 2) Gareth Delany 3) Andy Balbirnie (c) 4) Harry Tector 5) Kevin O’Brien 6) Lorcan Tucker (wk) 7) Simi Singh 8) Curtis Campher 9) Andy McBrine 10) Barry McCarthy 11) Craig Young.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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