England’s Joe Denly Suffers Back Spasm Ahead of the World Cup
Apr 24, 2019 at 12:11 PM
England cricketer Joe Denly has sustained a back spasm during his first Royal London One-Day Cup match for Kent on April 23 (Tuesday), a month before the ICC World Cup 2019. Denly, who was a part of Kolkata Knight Riders in the ongoing Indian Premier League flew back to England to prepare for the marquee event.
Denly made his IPL debut against Delhi Capitals but got out for a duck off a piece of brilliance from Ishant Sharma. It was a perfect inswinger from the tall and lanky pacer which cuts back in after pitching outside off to dismantle the timber of Denly off the first ball of the match. Since then, he has been on the fringes waiting for an opportunity. But Kolkata Knight Riders has shown dependency on their incumbent opening pair – Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine.
Joe Denly who was due to fly back home on April 26 tweeted on Saturday informing that he is heading back England to take part in the Royal London One-Day Cup in a bid to prepare for the upcoming ICC event. He appeared for Kent against Gloucestershire on Tuesday and scored a brilliant half-century. However, he didn’t turn to during the second innings as he sustained an injury during batting. Kent’s assistant coach Allan Dolland confirmed the same and said that Denly suffered a back spasm during the first innings which piles up the injury list.
“Joe Denly suffered a back spasm while batting that we need to manage and it just adds to the most vicious injury cycle I have ever known. When you see Sean Dickson and Zak Crawley bowling in a game it shows the lengths to which we are suffering,” he said.
Having played his last ODI almost ten years back, Joe Denly was a surprise pick for the World Cup squad. He also got a chance to show his mettle in the upcoming series against Ireland and Pakistan just ahead of the showpiece event. The top-order batsman has eyed the upcoming series to make an entry to the playing XI of the top-ranked ODI side. However, his participation in the next Royal London ODI Cup is still not known.
England will begin their World Cup campaign on May 30 in the tournament opener against South Africa at the Oval.